Unforeseen
by Neurotica
Summary: Completed. AU. What if Lord Voldemort had decided to attack before the Potters had a chance to go into hiding? Would anything have been different?
1. Deals

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_One_

"JAMES! Get down!" Sirius Black roared as a jet of green light nearly hit his best friend. James Potter slammed himself to the ground and covered his head with his arms. Sirius stunned the Death Eater who sent the curse and ran to James' side. "We're outnumbered," he said, sending curses in all directions. "We need to get out of here!"

"Yeah, well, I'm finding that kind of hard at the moment, Sirius," James yelled angrily, rolling on to his back, sending a Jelly-Legs jinx at a Death Eater directly behind Sirius.

Two bodies dove to the ground just beside the two friends. "We've got a plan," a blonde headed man said hastily. "You guys need to get everyone ready to Disapparate. We'll take care of the rest."

"What the hell are you talking about?" James yelled, rolling out of the way just in time. A crater appeared in the ground where James had just been.

"We're going to cause a distraction. Don't worry about it; just get out!" said a brown haired man before standing and pulling his brother from the ground. The Prewett brothers ran back to the battle.

"They're barking mad!" James cried.

"Always have been," Sirius muttered, watching the two men disappear in a hail of wand fire. "C'mon, we have to find Pete and Remus."

Together, Sirius and James ran through the hoard of dueling Death Eaters, Order members, and Aurors, sending curses rapidly towards the scattered enemy ranks as they went. This was the third battle against Death Eaters that month, and it wasn't even halfway through. Voldemort was steadily gaining power, and it was becoming harder to keep tabs on him. The young Order of the Phoenix members had their work cut out for them as they fought the battles, leaving the mission planning to the older members.

A group of Death Eaters surrounded two men - one a sandy-haired man with furious blue eyes, the other a short man with a rat-like look about him - trying to pin them against a farm house. The two men were fighting with all they had, the shorter man having a bit more trouble than the other due to his visible nervousness against the Death Eaters.

"OY!" Sirius yelled. The Death Eaters stopped their assault long enough to turn and throw a couple of stunners at Sirius and James. It was plenty of time, however; while James and Sirius dove in opposite directions to avoid being hit, the other two men quickly stunned the Death Eaters, bounding them and taking their wands.

"Nice one," the sandy haired man panted, wiping sweat from his brow.

"You too," James said. "You all right?"

The shorter man looked as if he was anything but all right, but nodded anyway. "They cornered us when we weren't paying attention. Pete tripped over a rock-" the sandy-haired man continued. Sirius snorted. "-and I was trying to get him up."

"We have to get everyone together," James said, turning and eyeing the battle behind them. "The Prewetts are up to something, and I don't think I like the sound of it."

"What are they doing?" the short man, Peter, squeaked.

"Some sort of diversion," Sirius said. "_STUPEFY!_" He added as a Death Eater aimed his wand at James.

The four friends rounded up their fellows and bound as many Death Eaters they could. They finally found the Gideon and Fabian Prewett amidst a group of five Death Eaters. Gideon gave Sirius some sort of signal - his fist opened and closed twice, and he gave a thumbs-up. Sirius nodded. "Let's go," he said quietly to his friends.

"What? They're outnumbered! We aren't leaving them!" James yelled, raising his wand.

"No," Sirius said firmly, grabbing James' arm. "We have to do this. Just… Just trust me on this, okay?"

It sounded to James that it was costing Sirius everything to do what he was doing, but James nodded. "Alright," he said. "This is insanity," he muttered, turning back to the large group. "Oh bloody hell," he added, staring off into the distance.

"What?" the sandy-haired man, Remus Lupin, said, turning quickly. They were in a field surrounded by large trees which were now shaking. "Giants," he breathed. "We have to go…"

"That's what I've been saying!" Sirius yelled. "You lot! Back to the Ministry!" he yelled to the Aurors. They didn't need telling twice; a series of _pops_ and the Aurors were gone. "The rest of us… back to Headquarters…"

"Sirius, we can't-" James began.

"We have to. I'll explain later, just come on," Sirius said. With one final glance at the Prewetts - they were taunting the Death Eaters around them - Sirius Disapparated.

* * *

Lily Potter stared apprehensively out the window of a large white house, waiting for any news from the battle. She, along with Dorcas Meadowes, had stayed behind to help the injured as they Portkeyed or Apparated in, depending on the seriousness of the injury they sustained. Fortunately, none of the injuries were too serious - they could be mended with a flick of a wand - but Lily was still worried. She'd asked everyone who had come through how James was fairing, but none of them seemed to know. She had every ounce of faith that James would be all right, but she couldn't get the sinking feeling in her stomach to alleviate.

A door slammed open behind Lily and she started, pulling out her wand automatically.

"_EXPELLIARMUS!_" She shouted at the shadows in the doorway. They ducked as the spell hit the door frame.

"Dammit, Evans!" a familiar voice called.

"Sirius?" Lily asked, lowering her wand.

"It's us," said the voice she had been hoping to hear for over an hour. She flung herself from the window sill and wrapped her husband in a tight hug. She could hear James chuckle into her neck as he hugged her back.

"Are you okay?" She said, pulling back from James, examining him critically.

"Fine," James said tiredly with a smile.

"How about the rest of you?"

"I could use a strong drink about now, but other than that, I'm okay," Sirius responded, accepting the hug Lily was giving him.

After Remus and Peter received the same hugs, Lily forced them all to sit and eat a large block of chocolate. "So what happened out there?" Lily asked quietly, noticing that none of the men would look at her or one another.

Sirius sighed and exchanged a glance with James. "Gideon and Fabian… It was their idea, really. They told everyone to get out," he began. Lily's eyes widened in horror. "Then the giants…"

"Giants?" Lily whispered, looking at James. He nodded. "Oh my God," she whispered, covering her face with her hands.

The door to the room opened again and Dorcas entered. "Dumbledore wants all of us downstairs…" she said, her cheeks stained with tears.

Remus sighed. "Okay," he said quietly. He silently led his friends through the darkened hallways of the large house that had been set up for Headquarters. It belonged to Alastor Moody, but he gave it to Dumbledore to use as a meeting place for the Order of the Phoenix. The house was old and, as Peter had said the first time he set foot in it, "creepy".

Down the rickety stairs the group went, taking a left to the living room where a dozen or so Order members were gathered around Dumbledore and Moody. The group stood beside the rest and listened to what Dumbledore had to say. "You fought well," he said somberly, looking at those who had been at the battle. "Unfortunately, we have lost two more tonight. Gideon and Fabian Prewett will be remembered as heroes. If it hadn't been for their act of selflessness, you would have all perished this evening."

Lily leaned her head against James shoulder and shook her head sadly. She'd known the Prewetts well; they had been a year above her at Hogwarts and were Prefects, though, they weren't above the occasional moment of trouble, much like Remus.

After a quick de-briefing, Dumbledore declared the evening over and sent everyone to their respective homes. Sirius was pulled away by Moody to a corner of the room while Remus and Peter moved closer to James and Lily. "So what now?" Remus asked.

"We wait for Sirius and we go home," James said. "Not much left to do tonight, is there?"

"I suppose not," Remus said resignedly. "What was all that about, anyway? The signal Gideon gave Sirius, I mean."

"No idea," James replied just as warily. Sirius returned not ten minutes later and nodded that he was ready to leave.

"See you at work, Padfoot?" James asked his friend. Sirius was never this quiet after a battle - his jaw was clenched tightly and his face was downcast.

"Yeah," Sirius grunted before Disapparating.

Remus and James stared with wide-eyes for a long moment before Peter spoke. "I - I have t-to go," he stuttered, looking anxious.

"You okay, Pete?" Remus asked, looking concerned.

"F-fine," Peter squeaked.

James raised an eyebrow. "All right, see you, Wormtail," he said.

"See you," Peter said before Disapparating.

Remus turned to James and Lily. "I'll see you guys on Friday night, I suppose," he said quietly.

James nodded. "Get some sleep, mate," he said.

Remus smiled tiredly before Disapparating behind Sirius and Peter.

"I want to see Harry," Lily said quietly, looking at her husband.

"Me too."

* * *

The street in front of Order Headquarters was empty again with the sound of two soft _pops_. Albus Dumbledore watched them disappear from the front door, though they hadn't seen him - he had his own ways of keeping out of sight.

_They are too young to hold such burdens_, he thought sadly. _But they've proved themselves more than capable of handling such things. I have a feeling things will turn out just fine for them…_

* * *

**AN: **I wasn't going to put this up until Sunday, but I'm impatient. This has been a story in progress for a few months, and it's been in my head for much longer. This chapter is pretty short, but they do get longer (Consequences length). I'll be updating Consequences once more on Sunday, and maybe on Wednesday, then I'm going to take a much needed break from that to work on this. Hope you guys enjoy this! And thank you for all your reviews on Broken! 


	2. Fallouts

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the world of. They belong to JK Rowling. **

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Two_

James sat down beside Lily on their sofa, their son asleep in her lap, and waited for Sirius to explain what had really happened two nights ago with Gideon and Fabian Prewitt. After they were sure the Death Eaters had gone, some members of the Order of the Phoenix went back to the area of the attack and found the brothers dead, side-by-side.

Sirius was in hisfavorite armchair, fidgeting under the stairs of James, Lily, Remus, and Peter, obviously trying to figure out how he was going to word what he was about to say. The only other time James had seen his best friend this uncomfortable was when he had been trying to apologize to Remus for the Snape-episode in sixth year.

Harry whimpered slightly as he got more comfortable in his mother's arms. James leaned over and flattened his unruly hair a bit. "Tell us what you need to tell us, Sirius," Remus said quietly.

Sirius nodded slowly and looked around the room again. "Okay," he sighed. "A few months back, just after Marlene McKinnon and her lot were killed, Gideon, Fabian, and I had a talk. We agreed that if we were in battle with the Order, and we were too outnumbered to get the majority of our side out alive, then one of us would distract the Death Eaters so everyone could get to a safe place," he said in one long breath.

Silence met Sirius' admission. The adults in the room stared open-mouthed at him for long moments before anyone could say anything. "So you agreed that one of you would commit suicide, is that what you're saying to us, Sirius?" James asked, fighting the urge to slap his best friend very hard.

Sirius took a deep breath. "Pretty much, yeah," he said. "But if they hadn't done what they did the other night, then we'd all be dead," he added hastily.

Lily shook her head slowly, trying to understand Sirius' line of thinking - not the easiest thing to do. "That could have just as easily been you," she said quietly.

"If I'd had the opportunity, yeah, it could have been," Sirius said stubbornly.

"You're an idiot," Remus muttered, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "You know damn well we could have gotten out of there safely, but instead you let Gideon and Fabian get themselves killed."

Sirius' eyes widened. "Is that what you think I did?" he nearly shouted, startling Harry from his sleep, causing him to wail keenly.

"That _is_ what you did," Remus said, not at all intimidated by Sirius Black.

"How the _fuck_ could you think I would do something like that?" This time Sirius did shout as he stood.

"First of all!" Lily yelled, trying to stop Harry's crying. "Watch your language around my son, Black. Secondly, if you can't discuss this like adults, then you can _get out of my house!_"

Sirius collapsed back into his seat, still glaring daggers at Remus.

"Shh, it's okay, Harry," James said to his son, taking him from Lily's arms. "I'm going to put him to bed. It's probably best if he isn't here for this. I'll be back," he said, standing. He stood and left the room without another glance at any of his friends. He could hear Lily's footsteps behind him, but wanted to get to Harry's room before he turned around and cursed his best friend for his stupidity.

When he entered the nursery he and Lily had set up almost a year and a half ago, he reached over to turn on a light, thankful that Harry had calmed somewhat. The room was painted in a light blue with white clouds that magically moved across the walls. Lily had been against charming the room - there was no enjoyment in doing everything with a wand, she'd said. Of course, that was before she'd seen what James could do with the room, especially when the lights went out - the walls would fill with stars and the moon in whatever phase the real moon was in.

James placed his now tearless son into his crib and leaned over the bars. Harry looked up and grinned with the only three teeth he had. James smiled back. "Your godfather is an idiot, Harry. I love him like a brother, but half of the things he comes up with are so…" he shook his head unable to find a word to describe Sirius' actions.

A pair of arms wrapped tightly around his middle. "I'm sure he had his reasons, James," Lily said quietly, leaning her head on his back.

"I know," he sighed. "He always does, and that's what scares me."

Lily kissed his shoulder. "Why don't you go down and make sure Sirius and Remus haven't killed one another?"

"That's probably a good idea," James said darkly. He stood straight and turned around to face his wife. "I'll be back up later." He kissed his wife and son briefly before going back to his best friends.

When he re-entered his living room, the atmosphere was so tense he nearly turned and went back upstairs to his family. Sirius and Remus were no longer glaring at one another; in fact, they were staring in opposite corners completely. Peter was predictably glancing anxiously at each of them and was visibly relieved when he spotted James entering.

"Alright," James said calmly and quietly, attracting the attention to himself. "What's happened, happened. Remus, just stop for a minute, okay?" he added when Remus opened his mouth. "This was probably the stupidest, most idiotic thing Sirius has come up with, but I'm going to assume you did it for noble reasons, or whatever. Look, I don't care. This is a war, and there's going to be losses. While the Prewetts were two of my favorite people, they made their decision, and there's nothing we can do to change it…"

"You're all insane," Remus said quietly after a moment as he stood. "We're trying to stay alive in this war and Sirius is making deals on who dies. You know what? That's perfectly fine, though, isn't it, James? No big deal if someone dies! It's not you! How would you feel if next time it was Lily? Or Harry?" he added softly.

"Why would you say something like that?" James said, torn between being horrified at the thought of his family being killed and wanting to hit Remus for saying it.

Remus walked to his friend and looked him directly in his eyes. "This is a war, and there's going to be losses," he said, pushing past James and leaving the house.

* * *

The next weekend was Harry's first birthday. Many Order members arrived in Godric's Hollow for the event, including Albus Dumbledore. Lily had written Remus, begging him to join them, but he hadn't replied. As always, Lily blamed her husband and Sirius; they hadn't seen Remus since the night Sirius had admitted to his deal with the Prewetts. James hadn't said what he and his best friends had talked about, and Lily wasn't sure she wanted to know, but they hadn't talked for very long.

"Hey, are you coming out here?" James asked, poking his head through the back door of the kitchen.

Lily was just finishing with Harry's birthday cake - triple chocolate chip with fudge frosting. "You guys are going to get sick off this. I hope you know that," she muttered.

James chuckled and came into the house. He'd always been impressed with Lily's ability to cook without a wand. His mother used to cook with Muggle recipes, and they usually turned out wonderfully, much to the shock of James and his father.

James went to his wife and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist, burying his head in her neck. She smelt of chocolate and coconut today. He supposed part of her heavenly smell came from the cake, but he didn't seem to care too much.

There'd never been another woman who James felt so deeply for. Sure, he'd dated others at Hogwarts, but they were nothing compared to the treasure of Lily Evans. Most of the other girls were friends of whatever girl had struck Sirius' fancy that week. They were usually bubbly, and none too intelligent. Not to mention some of them weren't too fond of Remus or Peter, which automatically crossed them off James' list of potential girlfriends. Lily had been everything he ever wanted. She was smart, funny, beautiful… And she didn't take shit from anyone, especially not him. She was the one girl who didn't follow him around like a puppy dog, dying for him to ask her out.

For five years, he'd tried to make Lily Evans love him. By the sixth, he'd realized he couldn't force Lily Evans to do anything. And by the seventh, he realized he'd grown up, matured, and convinced Lily Evans he wasn't the prat he'd been for the majority of his life. The day she finally agreed to date him, nearly halfway through their last year at Hogwarts, James thought he was having what the Muggles called a heart attack. Sirius said it was heartburn, and Remus said it was love. James had been inclined to agree with Remus.

"You all right back there?" Lily asked, leaning her head against his.

James smiled against her neck, making her shiver a bit, and making him smile wider. "I'm fine. Just thinking."

"Okay, but don't hurt yourself," she said sternly. James pinched her sides, causing her to squeal. "Potter!" she yelled, turning to face him.

"Yes, Potter?" he grinned.

She glared, trying to keep her lips from twitching, and turned back to her cake. James made to go back to the party outside. She called him back, and he obeyed, expecting a kiss. Instead, he realized too late that his wife had a finger of frosting, which she smeared on his face before trying to push him out the door.

He retaliated by pulling her close and giving her the most sugary, sticky kiss either of them had ever experienced.

* * *

Sirius was sitting on the grass before Harry and Neville Longbottom, the son of Aurors Frank and Alice, teaching the two one-year-olds to throw grass at one another when James and Lily finally made it outside, their faces chocolate-free.

"Come on, Padfoot," James said, picking up his son from the grass while Lily picked up Neville. "Time to play with kids your own age."

"But I don't wanna! I wanna play with Harry!" Sirius whined, wiping grass of his shirt and out of his long, black hair.

Lily smirked. "I think Harry's a bit beyond your intellect, Sirius."

"Probably," Sirius said, standing and wiping grass from his robes. Lily and James walked away laughing before he realized what had Lily said. "Hey!" he said, chasing after them.

* * *

"So where's Lupin?" Frank Longbottom asked, watching Harry and Neville shove cake in their mouths.

James lowered his Butterbeer from his lips slowly. "He, er, couldn't make it today." Frank raised an eyebrow. James shrugged. "He's been trying to find a job, but hasn't had much luck."

"Ah," Frank said in understanding. He'd known about Remus' condition since the Marauders had joined the Order of the Phoenix just after their Hogwarts graduation. "Well, I'm sure he'll have some luck soon. Not everyone in the wizarding world can turn him down, right?"

James snorted humorlessly. "Try telling him that," he muttered before taking a sip of his drink.

* * *

A few hours later, Harry and Neville showed signs of exhaustion; both were falling asleep in wrapping paper from Harry's birthday presents. Alice took her son gently from the pile of wrappings and thanked the Potters for having them over for the day. Lily led the Longbottoms, the last of the remaining party guests, to the front door while James, Sirius, and Peter started to clean up the backyard.

"So," Peter began, moving garbage into a charmed trash bag with a wave of his wand, "have you guys talked to Moony?"

Sirius stiffened as he reached down to pick up Harry. James answered, "No, not since the other night."

"Well, I have," Peter said matter-of-factly. "And he's being just as stubborn as you two prats."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sirius asked with narrowed eyes, adjusting Harry in his arms.

Peter stopped what he was doing and turned to face his friends. "It means that all three of you are being stupid." James and Sirius raised their eyebrows at one another. Peter never spoke to them like that. "For two people who value friendship over anything the way you do, you're being quite juvenile."

James walked over to Peter and the smaller wizard resisted the urge to take a step back. "Who are you, and what've you done with Wormtail?" Sirius snorted in laughter.

Peter rolled his eyes. "Think what you want," he muttered. "I've got to go. Mother needs some things done tonight. See you guys."

"What's his problem?" Sirius asked, watching Peter Disapparate from the backyard.

"Looks like our little Wormtail isn't as out of the loop as we thought, eh?" James muttered, taking his son from Sirius.

* * *

James sat in a rocking chair in the corner of Harry's bedroom, reading his son a bedtime story. Harry had fallen asleep just after page four, but James continued to read. He enjoyed the book (_Alice in Wonderland_) as much as Harry did.

James sniffed, feeling a cold coming on, and closed the book, setting it on a table beside him. "Time for bed, Harry," he muttered, standing and crossing the room to Harry's crib. "You're getting heavy, mate."

He placed his baby boy in the white, wooden crib, and pulled a blanket over to cover the boy. He touched two fingers to his lips and touched Harry's forehead, smoothing back his inherited untidy hair.

"I love you, son," he said before waving his wand, making silhouettes of wolves, stags, rats, and dogs appear on the walls. It'd been a creation of Remus' when Lily and James brought their son home from the hospital a year ago.

One year ago… James smiled as he walked out of the nursery to his and Lily's bedroom down the hall.

His red-headed wife was just climbing into their large four-poster bed when he entered. He saw her smile in the mirror as he changed into his pajamas, and he dove into the bed beside her. He grinned in response to her giggles and pulled her against him.

"Is Harry asleep?" she muttered into his chest.

"Yep," he said, massaging her scalp. "Three sleeping draughts later…"

She slapped him on his bare chest and reached over him to turn off the lamp. "Mmm… love you," she muttered sleepily, laying her head on his chest again.

"Love you, too," he said quietly, smiling into the dark room.

* * *

**AN: **Yes, there is a plot to this story, I promise... Thank you for the reviews. Please keep 'em coming:-D 


	3. Wizard Flu

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Three_

Less than a week after Harry's birthday, Sirius and James were let out of their jobs at the Ministry early for a meeting at Hogwarts with Dumbledore. James had come down with a full-blown bout of Wizard Flu. It differed from the Muggle Flu only in one way: it drained a witch or wizard of their magical abilities until they were able to throw it off. The Flu had only been affecting James a few days (it usually lasted seven to ten), but he was already seeing his abilities fade.

Sirius suggested they put off the meeting until James was feeling better ("I'm sure Dumbledore wouldn't appreciate you puking all over his magnificent study," Sirius said), but James wouldn't allow it. Their schedules as Aurors were unpredictable at the best of times, and they probably wouldn't be able to meet with the headmaster for another month.

And so, this was why James and Sirius were arriving by Portkey just outside the Hogwarts gate on a stormy afternoon in August. James wavered a bit when he landed and Sirius caught him before he could fall.

"Lily's going to murder you for not putting this off, mate," Sirius said lightly as they walked across the Hogwarts grounds.

James grunted in response, carefully stepping up the front steps of the castle. "Told her I'd be home right after this," he said quietly.

Sirius rolled his eyes and muttered something that sounded like "whipped" as they entered the dark Hogwarts corridors.

It'd only been four years since they'd graduated from Hogwarts, but both wizards looked around nostalgically, recalling some of the better times they'd had in the school. They walked silently down the very familiar path to Dumbledore's study – they'd been there hundreds of times in their youth – and Sirius muttered the password ("Ice Mice") to the stone gargoyles. The gargoyles immediately moved aside, revealing the spiraling stone staircase that would take the two wizards to Dumbledore.

Before either of them had a chance to knock on the oak study door, Dumbledore called for them to enter. The two friends raised an eyebrow at their former headmaster's ability to know they were at the door before they'd even alerted him. Sirius entered first, followed by James, and greeted the smiling headmaster before sitting.

"Are you feeling all right, James?" Dumbledore asked concernedly.

"Fine, sir, just a bug," James replied. Sirius noticed his best friend growing paler by the minute, but didn't say anything.

"On your way out today, you may want to see Madam Pomfrey; perhaps she can give you a potion, hmm?"

James nodded. "I'll do that, sir."

Small talk commenced. Dumbledore inquired as to how Lily and Harry were fairing, how work at the Ministry was going, and if the two younger wizards were keeping out of trouble. Sirius assured him that they were being perfect angels, but had a bit of trouble keeping his lips from twitching.

They began discussing the war with Voldemort, and any light feelings that had been in the room when James and Sirius had arrived disappeared immediately. The war had grown steadily darker and more dangerous over the more recent years since Voldemort had first gained power during James and Sirius' first year at Hogwarts. He was recruiting to his ranks in mass numbers. This meant the chances of spies within the Ministry of Magic and the Order of the Phoenix were greatly increased.

Apparently, Dumbledore had finally reached his reason for asking the two younger wizards to join him that day. According to the headmaster, Voldemort and his Death Eaters were gaining access to information they shouldn't have been able to get. Dumbledore believed the Order had been infiltrated by a Death Eater. He also believed the spy was an established, trusted member of the Order.

"Who do you think it is, sir?" James asked quietly.

Dumbledore sighed and had never looked as old as he did at that moment to James. "I do not know for certain," he said regretfully. James thought he was avoiding something. "I would like for the two of you to keep your eyes open and to be careful what you speak of with one another and your friends." Sirius and James glanced at each other, their eyebrows raised again. "Our greatest allies could turn out to be our worst enemies in this war, boys. One of Lord Voldemort's strongest characteristics is that he is highly manipulative and is not above tearing apart families, or the strongest friendships, for the sake of his cause."

* * *

Lily was cleaning the living room with the stereo blaring a Muggle rock song from its speakers while Harry played with his building blocks on the floor behind her. Mother and son were singing together – well, Harry babbled incoherently, but Lily liked to pretend he knew the song.

"Ma!" he yelled happily over the guitar solo. Lily turned around and smiled. It looked as though all Harry had done with his blocks was scatter them all over the floor Lily had just picked up. He seemed to think he created a work of art.

"It's beautiful, Harry," she said, sitting beside her son. He crawled into her lap as she began to gather the blocks in front of them. "Let's see if we can build Hogwarts, hmm?"

Before Lily could arrange any of the blocks, there was a knock on the front door. For a moment, Lily only stared in the direction of the door; no one they knew ever knocked. Sirius, Peter, and Remus always invited themselves in, and Lily's friends always Flooed before coming over.

Trembling slightly, Lily dropped the green plastic block back to the pile. Harry looked up at her questioningly, and she tried to smile back as she removed her son from her lap. "Stay here, baby," she said quietly, picking up her wand and standing from the floor.

It was only four in the afternoon – what harm could come to her and her son before nightfall? _You'd be surprised_, said a cynical voice in her mind that sounded suspiciously like Alastor Moody.

Lily approached the front door slowly, her wand held tightly in her hand, and peered out the curtained window beside the door. She released a breath she didn't know she'd been holding when she spotted Remus on the front porch, shifting around nervously. Lowering her wand, she opened the door and smiled. "Hey, you gave me one hell of a fright, Lupin. Thought you were a Death Eater."

"Hey, Lily," he said. "Sorry about that. I wasn't sure if walking in unannounced was such a good idea anymore. James probably would have hexed me."

Lily raised a pale eyebrow. "James isn't here, and even if he was, why would he hex you?"

Remus shrugged, and then furrowed his brow. "James isn't here?"

Lily shook her head. "No, he and Sirius went to meet with Dumbledore today. Why aren't you with them?'

"Oh," Remus said, looking crestfallen. "I didn't know that was today…"

"They didn't tell you," Lily said flatly. Remus shook his head. "Gits," she muttered. "Well, come in, don't just stand there all day." Remus entered and Lily closed the door behind them.

"Mooey!" called an excited voice.

Remus' face lit up. "Hey, buddy!" he said, reaching down to pick up Harry. "How are you?" Lily smiled as Harry started to giggle when Remus bounced him in his arms. "So he's walking now?" Remus said to Lily.

"Yep. He started that a few days before his birthday."

Remus' smile faltered at the very accusatory look Lily was giving him. "I'm sorry I haven't been in touch, and I'm even more sorry for missing Harry's birthday which is partly why I'm here."

Lily nodded, accepting his apology, and led him and Harry to the kitchen. "Tea?" she asked, taking a sippy cup from the cupboard and filling it with apple juice for Harry; it was the only thing he would drink.

"Yes, please," Remus said, placing Harry in his highchair. "Oh, I almost forgot…" Lily turned around and watched Remus take something from his robes. It was wrapped perfectly in shiny emerald green paper. "I got this for Harry," he explained to Lily.

Lily smiled. "Well, don't make the boy wait any longer."

Remus chuckled and sat the gift in front of Harry. "Happy Birthday, Harry," he said kneeling beside the highchair and giving Harry an affectionate ruffle of his hair. Lily and Remus laughed when Harry grinned and started to tear the paper to shreds.

"It _was_ pretty," Lily said with a grin as she waved her wand to pick up the mess.

The one-year-old squealed with delight at whatever it was Remus had gotten him. "It's not much…" Remus muttered embarrassedly. Remus was quite uncomfortable when it came to money; he'd never had much of it.

"He seems to love it," Lily said, moving closer to her son.

Remus had bought him a junior Quidditch set. The small versions of the Quidditch balls were charmed to fly around but to keep a good distance away from the child. Lily released the small Golden Snitch and watched in amusement and pride as Harry's eyes darted back and forth with every move it made.

"He's going to make a hell of a Quidditch player," Remus said in awe after Harry actually reached out and grabbed the Snitch. The child was giggling madly as the little wings beat gently against his hands.

Lily laughed. "Yeah, that's what Sirius and James are always saying. I never thought you'd be the first one to give Harry Quidditch toys," she added thoughtfully.

"Well, I was going to get him a pet grindylow, but I thought he as too young, so I had no choice, really," Remus grinned.

Lily and Remus sat at the kitchen table once their tea was finished and talked about everything they could think of. The two of them had been good friends since fifth year, when they were both named Gryffindor Prefects. When the conversation turned to James and Sirius, Remus did his best to hide the fact that he was upset that his best friends hadn't been speaking to him. He admitted that he wasn't making much more of an effort, but he had attempted to speak with them when he visited the Ministry a few days back. Both of them had given him the silent treatment until he left Auror Headquarters.

"Well, that's a bit childish," Lily said angrily, inwardly planning to slap James the moment he arrived home.

By six o'clock, James still hadn't returned home, and Remus announced he had to leave. He thanked Lily for the tea, and promised to come back around another day to see James.

"Take care of yourself, Remus," Lily said, knowing the Full moon would be in just a few days. She kissed Remus on the cheek and added, "If you need anything at all, let us know."

Remus smiled. "I will. Bye, Lily."

* * *

"You've been oddly quiet today," James observed as he and Sirius walked through the Hogwarts corridors after their meeting with Dumbledore.

Sirius shrugged. "Thinking," he grunted, shoving his hands deep into his pockets.

Normally, James would have made some sort of joke about Sirius thinking, but he could tell something was bothering his best friend. He could always tell. "Care to share?"

Sirius didn't answer for a minute as he stared at his shoes, his brow furrowed. "I think it's Remus," he said suddenly.

James stopped in the hall. "You want to run that by me again?" he asked slowly.

Sirius sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. "The spy… I think it's Remus…" James only blinked at him. "Think about it… Everything he said a few weeks back – he said it like he knew more than he was letting on. And the way he's been avoiding us…"

"We've been avoiding him too, Sirius," James said flatly, almost challengingly. "Remus isn't a spy. He's our best friend, unless you've forgotten."

"You heard what Dumbledore said about friends and enemies, and Voldemort's power in manipulation. Remus wouldn't be that hard to manipulate-"

"_We _couldn't even manipulate Remus! He's too bloody intelligent for that! He's-"

"He's a werewolf."

James stared open-mouthed at his best friend for what seemed like hours. Never before had Sirius said anything derogatory about Remus' condition, but here he was, standing in the middle of Hogwarts, accusing their best friend of being a Death Eater _because_ he was a werewolf. James was starting to feel a bit dizzy, and was about to reply to Sirius' ignorant comment when the Hogwarts corridors faded to black around him…

* * *

Sirius smirked as he watched James try to open his eyes. The effects of the wizard Flu were finally catching up to James, and he'd passed out in the corridor. Being the dedicated friend he was, Sirius had floated James' unconscious body to the Hospital Wing for Madam Pomfrey to look at.

"Mmm…" James groaned, his eyes still closed. "Lily…"

Sirius' eyebrows shot up and he fought hard not to laugh at the look on James' face – one which told Sirius that his best friend was having a rather interesting dream about his wife.

"Speaking of Lily," said an amused voice from behind Sirius. The wizard started and turned to face Dumbledore. "Perhaps it would be wise to inform her of James' whereabouts. She has quite the ability to worry."

"Right," Sirius said, still trying to keep from laughing at James. "May I use your fireplace, sir?"

"Of course," Dumbledore said with a smile.

Sirius left the Hospital Wing and rushed through the school again to get to Dumbledore's office. Now that he thought about it, he was surprised Lily hadn't Apparated to Hogwarts an hour ago to find out where her husband was. Lily wasn't at all controlling of James - just very protective. He was the same way with her. In these times, you had to be protective of your loved ones; you never knew where or when Voldemort would strike next.

Sirius made it to Dumbledore's office and took a pinch of Floo powder from the golden bowl on the fireplace mantle. He tossed it in, called the Potters' address, and stuck his head in the green whirl of flames. Just as he was about to call Lily's name, he saw something that made his jaw drop.

Remus and Lily were standing at the front door, quite close to one another. Lily whispered something to him and leaned up to kiss Remus' cheek. The wizard smiled and left the cottage. Sirius waited for Lily to close the door and pretended he hadn't seen a thing.

"Oy, Evans!"

Lily jumped and turned to face the fireplace. "Hey," she said coming into the living room. "Where are you guys?"

"Still at Hogwarts," Sirius answered. "James isn't feeling too well, so Pomfrey's making him stay. It's nothing to worry about," he added hastily at the look on Lily's face. "Just the flu… but I thought you'd like to know."

"Should Harry and I come up there?" Lily asked.

"Nah, I'll take care of him. With any luck, I'll have him home by tomorrow morning. Speaking of my godson, where is he?"

"He's in the kitchen making a mess of his dinner. I should probably get back in there, actually."

"All right, then," Sirius said. "See you tomorrow. I'd like pancakes and bacon for breakfast, by the way," he called as Lily stood and started towards the kitchen. She made a very unladylike gesture over her shoulder before disappearing around the corner.

Sirius pulled his head from the fire and sat back on his heels. Why had Remus been there? And why was Lily kissing him? He couldn't recall Remus having anything but platonic feelings towards Lily… Maybe Remus really was a Death Eater and trying to either covert Lily to joining the Dark Side, or scoping out the house for when James wasn't home so he could attack Lily and Harry when they were defenseless. Or maybe Lily and Remus were having an affair… No, Lily would never cheat on James, and Remus knew James would murder him if something like that was going on with him and Lily…

Sighing, Sirius got up from the floor and went back to the Hospital Wing. He'd have to tell James what he'd seen in the fireplace – it was unavoidable. James needed to know that something odd was happening in his home, something that could potentially harm his family. Sirius would never allow anything to happen to the Potters. James was more of a brother to him than his own blood brother; Lily had become like a sister to him. And Harry… well, nothing could make Sirius' heart melt faster than hearing Harry yell "Pa-foo" at the top of his lungs.

Unfortunately, the Potters were quite a large threat to Voldemort, and the Dark Lord felt they needed to be eliminated. Well, Sirius didn't know if those were his exact thoughts, but Voldemort definitely wasn't cheering for the Potters to live through this war…

* * *

_All he could see were blurred outlines and colors. The voices sounded like distant echoes, but he still recognized them easily. They were the voices of his wife and son. James' heart swelled when the blurs sharpened and he could clearly see his family asleep on the large sofa in their living room. _

_He loved them both more than even he knew. There wasn't a thing in the world he wouldn't do for them…_

_Slowly he approached the sofa and knelt down beside it, moving Lily's dark red hair from her face. She smiled softly in her sleep, and pulled Harry closer to her chest as if protecting him from every evil thing in the world._

_There was a sound in the front yard… The wrought-iron gate was being opened. James turned to the fireplace and looked at the clock on the mantle-_

Why the hell would someone come over here at 12:30 in the morning?_ He wondered. Sirius was his first thought, but he had a very bad feeling that his best friend wasn't outside._

_Another sound… This time the front door was being blown of the hinges. Lily and Harry were jolted awake, and the witch didn't even have time to grab her wand before He found them._

"_Well, well," Voldemort smirked. "Mrs. James Potter, and little baby Potter… How good it is to see you again."_

_Lily sat up slowly on the sofa, pushing a crying Harry behind her. "What do you want?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear._

"_I want what everyone wants, Mrs. Potter. I want this war ended," Voldemort said softly._

"_Please, leave us alone," Lily begged._

Why am I not helping her?_ James thought wildly. _I have to save her!_ James tried to yell, tried to tell Voldemort to get the hell away from his wife and son, but his voice seemed to have forgotten how to function._

"_You know what I really want, Lily? May I call you 'Lily'? Good. What I really want, Lily, is your husband and son out of my way," Voldemort growled._

_Lily's eyes widened. "What have they done to you?" she whispered fearfully._

_Voldemort laughed coldly, and Harry's cries grew louder. James wanted nothing more than to hold both of them for the rest of his life. "Your husband, James… he's been a thorn in my side for years," Voldemort said dismissively. "But your son, Lily… he's quite interesting… Do you know what I speak of?"_

"_The Prophecy…" Lily whispered hoarsely._

"_Ah, good, so I won't have to get into all those nasty little details. Now, if you don't mind, Lily, I should like to get this over with; I have much better things to do than stay in the company of Mudbloods," Voldemort said. "Step aside, that's a girl…"_

"_NO!" Lily shouted._

"_No?" Voldemort questioned softly._

"_No, leave Harry alone! He's done nothing to you! He's only a baby!"_

"_He's a baby now, Lily," Voldemort corrected. "But he will grow up, and I fear that I don't wish to wait. I'm quite an impatient man."_

"_Not Harry! Please, have mercy. Take me, kill me instead," Lily begged with tears streaming down her face, shielding her son._

_James wanted to yell for her to run, grab her wand and curse the son of a bitch, anything!_

"_Now, now, Lily," Voldemort said. "There's no need for all this commotion. Just hand over the child, and I'll leave you be. I may even let your worthless _husband_ live, as well."_

_Lily shouted, cried, begged for Voldemort to have mercy on her son. Nothing Voldemort could say would get her to give the bastard her baby boy… Voldemort grew more impatient, and gave Lily one last chance to change her mind._

"_Insolent girl!" he shouted. "Very well… If I have to dispose of you to get to the boy, then so be it!" Before James could do anything, Voldemort shouted, "_AVADA KEDAVRA!"

* * *

"NO!" James shouted, sitting straight up in his hospital bed, panting and sweating heavily. Sirius, in a chair beside him, was jolted from his sleep, and Pomfrey ran out from her office. "Lily," James began to mutter over and over, tears streaming from his eyes. He pushed the blankets covering him away from his body and tried to get up. He had to get to Lily! He realized moments later that he couldn't move the upper half of his body – Sirius had pushed him back to the bed, pinning his shoulders down. "Geroff me!" James shouted. "I have to get to Lily!"

"James! You have to calm down!" Sirius shouted back. "Relax! I told you that Lily's fine!"

"NO! She's not! Voldemort… The Prophecy… HARRY!"

Sirius' eyebrows shot up again. "James, you're talking nonsense. Look, Poppy's got a nice dreamless sleep potion for you. If you take it like the good boy I know you can be, I'll check on Lily and Harry for you, all right?"

James tried to push the goblet Pomfrey was trying to give him away, still fighting to get Sirius off of him. "I don't need it!" he cried loudly. He freed one of his arms from Sirius' grip and hit his best friend in the eye hard.

"DAMMIT, JAMES!" Sirius yelled, pinning James' arm down again. "Take the damn potion already, or I'm going to stun you!"

James continued to fight, yelling about horrible things happening to Lily and Harry. In the end, Sirius was forced to stun his best friend – it was for his own good, really… Pomfrey poured the goblet's contents into James' mouth, careful not to make him choke, and offered to get rid of the black eye James had given Sirius.

"No, that's okay," Sirius said with a slight grin. "Not the first time it's happened."

Pomfrey went back to her office, and Sirius thought that perhaps he should firecall Lily, just in case. He barely made it to the Hospital doors when Dumbledore entered looking horribly sad.

"We need to talk," Dumbledore said hoarsely.

Sirius' heart dropped somewhere past his knees and he nodded, going back to sit in his chair.

* * *

**AN: **Please take note of the genre this story has been placed under: Angst/Mystery. That's about all I have to say at the moment... Oh, and isn't that the nastiest cliff hanger you've ever seen? Oh, and one more thing - well, two - thank you for the reviews thus far; please keep them coming! 


	4. Dark vs Light

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or the world of. Those rights belong solely to JK Rowling - the goddess of all evilness. (Where do you think I learned my evil ways...?)**

__

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Four_

Sirius stared helplessly at James' unconscious form, Dumbledore's continued words only a buzz of sound in his ears. It couldn't be true… James was just hallucinating because of the flu… But then why was Dumbledore going along with it?

Sirius felt a tear escape his eye, but he didn't have a chance to reach up and wipe it away before more fell. This was only a nightmare, and everyone was fine. Dumbledore had everything mixed up in his old age. It was another witch Voldemort had killed (_Please let it be someone else…_ Sirius thought painfully, desperately.) If it was Lily… then what of Harry? More tears fell at that thought.

A hand squeezed Sirius' shoulder, but he could barely feel it. "Sirius," Dumbledore said, his voice full of remorse. "James is going to need you now more than ever."

The younger wizard nodded jerkily. "Harry…" he whispered hoarsely.

Dumbledore sighed heavily and a painful sob escaped Sirius' throat. He buried his head in his hands, willing the world to just disappear around him. "Lily and James' home was destroyed," Dumbledore said, his voice catching. Sirius pulled at his long hair roughly, not feeling pain anywhere but his heart – it was oddly constricted. "There was an explosion inside the house; I am not yet sure what caused it."

Tears were flowing freely from Sirius' grey eyes now. He looked at James in his hospital bed, a peaceful look on the sleeping wizard's face. Oh God… how would Sirius break the news to James that his family, his reason for living, was gone - taken from him by Voldemort?

"There was no Dark Mark," Dumbledore continued – Sirius wished he wouldn't. "And there have been no further signs of Voldemort-"

"What?" Sirius said hoarsely, snapping his head up to the headmaster, thoughts on Lily and Harry and James momentarily pushed to the side.

Again, Dumbledore sighed. "I have been keeping a very close eye on all of the members of the Order, Sirius. The charms I had placed around the Potters' home alerted me to a strange combination of magic tonight. There was Dark magic, which I believe to be caused by Voldemort casting the Killing Curse – I believe he cast it twice, actually. But there was also a very strong, very curious amount of Light magic around the second time Voldemort would have cast the Killing Curse."

"What kind of Light magic?" Sirius asked breathlessly, holding on to a small shred of hope.

"If my theory is correct, it was a protection spell of some sort. It would make sense for Lily to have tried to protect Harry. Her wand, however had not been used-"

"How do you know that?"

"One of the charms in place was a spell detection charm. Minor spells – cleaning, household, that sort of thing – would not be detected. But defensive or protective spells performed with a wand would be. Lily's wand did not appear to have been handled once during the attack."

_The attack…_ Sirius thought flatly. _That's what tonight will be referred to as from now on._ "Why wouldn't she have used her wand?"

"Perhaps she did not have it near her at the time-"

"She always has it nearby. James insists on it," Sirius muttered automatically.

"It's possible then that she did not wish to move to reach for her wand and give Lord Voldemort a clear shot of Harry…"

"So the protective charm didn't work-" Sirius muttered hoarsely.

"I did not say that, Sirius," Dumbledore interjected softly. Sirius started to ask what he was talking about, but the headmaster continued. "I believe, and I may be incorrect – I pray that I am not – that Lily sacrificed her life to save Harry's." Sirius furrowed his brow, remembering something from Defense Against the Dark Arts about a mother's sacrifice… "This would mean, Sirius, and this is only my assumption," Dumbledore went on, "that if Lily's sacrifice was not in vain, when Lord Voldemort turned his wand on young Harry, and spoke the Killing Curse, it may have rebounded on its caster."

Sirius' jaw dropped. "What would that do? It'd kill him, right? Voldemort, I mean…"

Dumbledore shook his head regretfully. "If it had been another wizard, one with more human in him than Voldemort, then yes, it would have killed him. As it is, Voldemort has undergone many transformations to make himself immortal. I am, therefore, quite uncertain as to what the Killing Curse would have done to him."

"And Harry? If the spell rebounded…"

"If the spell rebounded, Harry would have had a chance of survival."

"Would have…?" Sirius asked weakly, his heart shattering again.

"Even if Harry survived the Killing Curse, chances are slim he would have survived the explosion of the house."

"But you have to check!" Sirius said loudly. "You can't just assume-"

"I have already sent somebody to check," Dumbledore said soothingly, placing a hand on Sirius' shoulder again to keep him from rising from his chair.

"Who?" Sirius asked hoarsely.

"Hagrid."

* * *

Remus sat at the kitchen table in a small cottage in the forests of Kent, a cold cup of tea sitting forgotten in front of him. Though it was nearing two-thirty in the morning, he couldn't sleep. The reasons for this were unknown, but the wizard felt anxious, antsy even. His stomach was in knots for no apparent reason, and he couldn't calm himself long enough to get comfortable in bed.

Sighing, Remus thought, for the hundredth time that night, of his friends. He thought about Flooing them, just to make sure they were all right. The only thing that kept him from doing this was the time of night. They were probably all sound asleep right now, and wouldn't be too thrilled to hear a worried werewolf in their fireplaces. Maybe if he just poked his head into their fireplaces, making sure everything was normal. He didn't have to call out for them…

He nodded decisively and stood quickly from his chair, moving to the living room. He threw a pinch of Floo Powder into his fireplace and called out Peter's address first before sticking his head into the green flames. He waited a moment for his head to stop spinning and for his eyes to adjust to the darkened living room of Peter's tiny London flat. Nothing seemed out of place…

Next, he checked on Sirius' flat. Ignoring the usual mess of clothes and empty Butterbeer bottles all over the floor of his friend's home, Remus strained his eyes and ears, trying to listen for Sirius' loud snores. There wasn't a sound in the flat…

_Maybe he stayed at Lily and James',_ Remus thought, trying not to panic. _He and James probably came back from Hogwarts, got smashed, and now Sirius is asleep in the guest room…_

But when he tried to connect to the Potters' fireplace, nothing happened. The flames were supposed to turn an emerald green after Floo Powder was thrown in and the address was called. But the flames remained orange and yellow.

Remus heart began to bear wildly in his chest. The only way a Floo connection would fail is if the owner of one fireplace went to the Ministry and had another fireplace blocked. Or if the fireplace had been destroyed… And Remus didn't think James and Lily would block his fireplace from theirs, no matter how upset James was with him…

A buzzing sound came from the kitchen, but it took Remus a few minutes to hear it. When he finally did, he stumbled through the living room into the kitchen. His wand sat on the table vibrating against his teacup. He picked it up, and the vibration ceased immediately. A blue mist emitted from the tip. A message from Dumbledore – this was how the Order of the Phoenix communicated…

The blue mist formed a square. A picture developed in the center of Hogwarts. The message was clear: Come to Hogwarts immediately. There were different levels of urgency, each coded by color. Yellow meant it wasn't important, but a message needed to be relayed soon; orange meant a meeting would occur that night; red meant there had been an attack, no casualties; purple meant there were casualties; blue meant a message could not be passed by anything but face-to-face communication; and black… black meant a member of the Order had fallen.

Remus dressed quickly in faded Muggle clothing and went back to the living room, preparing to Floo to Hogwarts.

* * *

Dumbledore had left the Hospital Wing not long before to send messages to select people, and await Hagrid's return from Godric's Hollow. Sirius remained by James' bedside, hoping his best friend didn't wake until he had formed a plan on how to tell James the news of his wife's, and possibly his son's, death.

It was common knowledge that James Potter's life revolved solely around Lily and Harry. It was something Sirius had always envied. He'd watched James with his family, saw how happy they were just to have each other, and Sirius wanted that. The love James had for Lily, and vice versa, was unbreakable. Their devotion to one another was amazing, considering the relationship they'd had before seventh year at Hogwarts. Lily was the only girl James had ever truly wanted for his own. He'd dated others, of course, but they'd never lasted long. James' excuse was that the other girls just weren't right for him.

The only times Sirius had seen happiness radiate off his best friend was at Lily and James' wedding, and the day Harry had been born. Not even war had dampened James' spirits on those days. Now what would he do? Everything James cherished was gone… Sirius wouldn't be surprised if James simply died of a broken heart when he found out about his family.

The Hospital Wing door opened, but Sirius didn't hear it. Only when a hand closed around his shoulder did the wizard turn around. Dumbledore was back, and Hagrid stood not far behind holding something protectively… Something in a pale blue, slightly dirty, baby blanket. Sirius' heart soared, and he didn't even realize he'd stood. He crossed the room to Hagrid in a rush. The half-giant smiled sadly and unfolded the blanket far enough for Sirius to see what he was holding.

"Harry," Sirius said weakly, immediately taking his godson from Hagrid's arms. "Oh God, Harry," he muttered over and over, holding the child closely to him, tears of joy falling freely. He didn't care about the strange cut on Harry's forehead; all he cared about at the moment was the fact that Harry had somehow survived… "What about Lily?" he asked hoarsely, finally looking at Hagrid and Dumbledore in turn.

Hagrid sniffed loudly, removing a large handkerchief from his coat. Dumbledore shook his head sadly. "Lily did not make it," the headmaster said quietly, his own eyes shining with tears.

Sirius nodded. He'd expected that answer, but had been hoping he was wrong. Any other time, he would have been wrong. Why did he have to be right about this, of all things? He took Harry, who was sleeping soundly, back to James' bedside and sat down.

He didn't know how long Hagrid and Dumbledore stood beside him; his entire focus was on James and Harry. What would they do now? Their home in Godric's Hollow – the only home Harry had ever known – was destroyed. All their possessions were gone… And without Lily, would James even _want_ to go on?

Hours passed - Sirius didn't know how many, and he didn't care. Both remaining Potters were still asleep. They would live with him in his London flat. He would take care of them, help James get through this somehow.

Thousands of questions floated in and out of Sirius' mind. Why would Voldemort want the Potters gone? How had Harry survived? What the hell was the Prophecy James was muttering about…? Where was Voldemort now? Who was the spy in the Order, and did he or she have a part in Lily's death…?

He thought of Remus a lot in those hours. Why would Remus have a part in Lily's death? He adored Lily. _Had_ he had a part in her death? Dumbledore had said many times that Voldemort was a master manipulator, and it was no secret that he was trying to recruit werewolves. Maybe Voldemort offered Remus something he always wanted. But what could possibly be enough to turn Remus to the Dark side? The Lupins had never had much money; maybe Voldemort offered Remus riches beyond his wildest dreams…

Sirius vaguely heard the creaking of the Hospital Wing doors again, but paid no attention. It was probably just Dumbledore.

"Sirius…" said a weak, hoarse voice.

That was not the voice he was expecting to hear tonight. He tried to keep his emotions in check – there still wasn't any proof – as he turned to face Remus. The other wizard looked back, his face strained and stained with dry tears, his eyes rimmed with red. What was he more upset about, Lily's death or the disappearance of Voldemort…? _No, you can't think that_, he chided himself. _You don't know he's a Death Eater._

But the image of Lily leaning up to kiss Remus' cheek the afternoon before flashed before his eyes and he couldn't keep his feelings from the surface. As calmly as possible, trying to keep his hands from shaking – he was still holding Harry – Sirius stood. "What did you do to her?" he asked in a wavering voice.

Remus' eyes widened. "What?" he breathed.

"What did you do to Lily?" Sirius repeated, his voice rising a bit.

"Sirius, what are you-"

"I saw you there," Sirius interrupted in a cold sneer to usually only ever used against Slytherins. "I saw you two together." Remus eyes widened further. "What were you doing, Remus? Making sure the coast was clear to your _master_ could take care of Lily? I'm not stupid, Remus."

"Yeah? Well, you could have fooled me," Remus said coldly. "What the hell are you on about?"

"How long have you been a Death Eater, Remus?" Sirius shouted. Strangely enough, Harry remained sleeping.

Remus looked as if he'd been slapped. "Excuse me?" he breathed.

"You heard me," Sirius said calmly, adjusting Harry in his arms.

Before either of them could say another word, Dumbledore entered. "Is there a problem here, boys?" he asked quietly, taking Harry from Sirius' arms. The younger wizard was shaking so badly that he nearly dropped the baby. Sirius didn't protest; he was busy contemplating what spell to use on Remus that would cause the most pain possible.

"Sirius seems to think I'm a Death Eater, sir," Remus said tonelessly.

"And are you?" Dumbledore asked conversationally, as if they were discussing the weather. Both wizards looked at him in surprise. The headmaster looked back between them not accusingly but interestedly.

"Of course not!" Remus said loudly.

"There is no need to shout, Remus," Dumbledore said, looking down at Harry. "I may be old, but my hearing is just as adequate as it always has been."

Remus started to mutter sorry, but Sirius interrupted. "And you believe him?" he hissed.

Dumbledore looked away from the sleeping child in his arms up to Sirius with a calm expression on his old face. "Remus says he is no Death Eater, and yes, I do believe him. Just as I believe, Sirius, that you are no Death Eater."

"But he was there! In James and Lily's house! Tonight!" Sirius shouted.

"Mr. Black," Dumbledore said sternly. "If you cannot control the volume of your voice, I will have to ask you to leave the Hospital Wing." Sirius looked away and crossed his arms. Dumbledore turned to Remus. "Were you at the Potters' home this evening, Remus?"

Remus nodded, his anger replaced with immense sadness. "Yes," he said tensely. "I was taking Harry his birthday present, and I was hoping to speak with James, but Lily said he and Sirius had come to see you."

"Indeed they had. I noticed you were not in attendance," Dumbledore said.

"They didn't tell me the meeting had been rescheduled. I thought it was next week," Remus muttered.

"I see. Then this has all just been a misunderstanding. I trust the two of you will cease your petty arguments and take good care of James and Harry during their time of need," the headmaster said.

"What about the spy?" Sirius snapped, careful to keep his voice down.

"The mystery of the spy has been solved, Sirius," Dumbledore said.

"What spy?" Remus asked, his brow furrowed.

Dumbledore sighed and explained the things he'd told James and Sirius earlier in the day about information being passed on to Voldemort for the last few months.

"Who is it?" Sirius growled, his eyes blazing.

"I believe the proper term is 'who _was _it'. Hagrid discovered a second body in Godric's Hollow when he retrieved Harry. I believe it was this person who was our spy." Dumbledore looked between the two young wizards and down at Harry before continuing. "Our spy was Peter Pettigrew, and he was killed in the explosion of the Potters' home."

* * *

**AN: **So what do you guys think so far? Depressing enough for you? Oh, it gets much worse... Thank you for the reviews thus far - Please keep them coming:-D More in a few days! 


	5. Last Thread

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Five_

He woke up feeling disoriented and uncomfortable and unaware of why his wife wasn't curled up beside him. Maybe she'd gone down to make breakfast? No, there were smells in this place, but it wasn't her cooking. The room smelled clean - sterile. While Lily kept their home clean, it wasn't this type of clean. There was only on place in the world he could think of that smelled like this…

"Hospital Wing…" he groaned. But how did he get to Hogwarts? Meeting with Dumbledore… spies in the Order of the Phoenix… Wizard Flu… Remus… Sirius… Lily… Harry… … Voldemort…

His eyes snapped open and he didn't even squint at the sunlight shining through the window across from his bed. He tried to sit up, but the Flu had made him too weak to do even that. He turned his head to the right to find Remus asleep in a chair, his knees pulled up to his chest, his head buried in the crook. "Moony," James whispered hoarsely. Remus lifted his head from his knees and James quickly realized that Remus wasn't asleep. He looked exhausted, though.

"James," Remus said, his voice sounding foreign to James. "You're awake," he added lamely.

James nodded. "What're you doing here?"

Remus seemed to struggle for his words as he looked around the Hospital Wing for anything to distract him. "James, I… there's something you need to know…"

James was sure his heart stopped beating. "What?" he breathed. Remus opened and closed his mouth a few times while James tried to figure out what was so hard for his friend to say. A horrible thought struck him – the dream he'd had the night before flashed through his mind. "Is it about Lily?" he asked quietly. Remus could only nod.

James turned his head back to face the ceiling. He covered his face with his hands, not hearing whatever it was Remus was saying – he didn't care. The fact that mattered was that Lily, his wonderful, perfect Lily was gone. And if Lily was gone… oh God, that meant Harry didn't stand a chance…

He couldn't cry – he wanted to desperately, but his brain wouldn't connect with his tear ducts. His family… he'd only had them for a short time, and now he'd never see them again. His chest constricted, his heart was shattering in to thousands of pieces. A strange sound filled the room, and he only realized long minutes later that his was his own painful wails. He felt somebody sit beside him on the bed, holding him while he cried, but he didn't have the strength to see who it was.

Some time went by – minutes, hours, days, months, he didn't care – when another sound broke through into his ears. It was a happy sound, he remembered vaguely – he'd only just found out about his family, and he'd already forgotten what it was to be happy.

"Da!" the small voice echoed through the Hospital Wing with a giggle attached to it.

James lowered his shaking hands from his face slowly, not daring to believe it – it couldn't possibly be what he thought it was – and felt someone slip his glasses onto his face. He tried to turn towards the voice (_Dear God, please let it be him…_) and felt movement under him – Remus was helping him sit up. Through his wet swollen eyes, he saw only one face, and it was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life.

"Harry," he murmured weakly, his voice not more than a squeak. Somebody – Sirius it looked like, James didn't care at the moment – brought his baby boy over to the bed. Harry stretched out his little arms to be held, his three baby teeth shown in a grin. James took his son in his arms and held him tightly, murmuring incoherent words into the child's hair, crying uncontrollably.

…

Sirius moved to the other side of the bed where Remus now stood, looking as if he was about to cry too – Sirius knew the feeling well. "He knows then?" he asked hoarsely.

Remus nodded jerkily. "He woke up wanting to know… I couldn't not tell him…"

Sirius sighed. "Did you tell him everything – about Peter and all?"

Remus shook his head. "No… I didn't even really tell him about Lily… he just kind of… _knew_," he said hoarsely.

Sirius pulled on Remus' arm, gesturing for the other wizard to follow him. They went to the other side of the Hospital Wing where they could still clearly see James and Harry. "Look…" Sirius began uncomfortably. "I'm sorry about what I said last night-"

"It's not important," Remus said quietly. "It doesn't matter anymore…" But he looked relieved that Sirius had attempted an apology nonetheless.

Sirius sighed in relief. "Right… Um, I was just talking to Dumbledore… James is pretty much free to leave Hogwarts, but he and Harry need to go somewhere safe, somewhere the Death Eaters can't find them. I suggested my place, but Dumbledore thinks that's a bit too obvious," he said a bit bitterly. "So we were thinking your place, if that's okay with you. There would have to be charms and wards put around it, but it would be far from the city…"

Remus nodded. "Yeah, that's no problem at all. You're welcome too, of course."

Sirius nodded and sighed again. "So, what do we do now?"

"I don't know…" Remus muttered, looking over his shoulder at James and Harry. "Just be there when they need us, I guess…"

…

The next few hours were some of the toughest Sirius and Remus had ever endured. They knew that nothing they were feeling could begin to compare to what James was feeling, but seeing their best friend in the state he was in was beyond horrible. James hadn't said a word – Sirius and Remus weren't sure if he even could – and the food tray Pomfrey brought for him remained untouched by anyone but Harry. The child seemed to realize something wasn't right with his father and tried to feed him Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, which were given to him by Hagrid. James refused them, and just held his son closer.

One of the more difficult moments of the day came when Harry innocently inquired about his mother. The look of pure pain on James' face brought more tears for his friends. How could you tell a one-year-old that his mummy was killed by an evil Dark wizard and wouldn't be coming back? Neither Sirius nor Remus knew what to do; it seemed like they should have left the Hospital Wing to give James some time with his son, but they didn't want to leave James alone. All they could really do at the moment was sit next to the bed and watch their best friend shut out the world.

James wouldn't relinquish his hold on Harry, not even when Madam Pomfrey asked to examine the child, just to be sure he had no further injuries from the explosion of the house. When Harry needed to be changed, James did it, though his hands were shaking horribly and his eyes were swollen from crying. When it was Harry's bedtime, James laid his son on his chest, rubbing his back. Remus put a charm around the bed to ensure the child wouldn't roll off in the night – the hospital beds weren't that large. James didn't sleep. He sniffled a few times, but whether it was from the flu or thoughts of Lily or both, Sirius and Remus weren't sure.

Late in the night, Sirius stood suddenly from the chair he'd been occupying for hours and motioned for Remus to follow him out of the hospital. Remus hesitated, not wanting to leave James' side, but James hadn't said or done anything to inform them he needed anything at the moment, so Remus followed.

"I had to get out of there," Sirius muttered restlessly, pacing around the corridor when Remus closed the door. "I can't just sit there and watch him…" Remus nodded in understanding. "Do you know anything about this Prophecy thing?"

Remus shook his head. "No," he answered hoarsely. "But from what I've gathered after talking to Dumbledore, I think it has something to do with Harry."

"I got that idea too," Sirius said quietly. "Would it be a bad idea to mention to James that he's got to plan Lily's funeral?"

Remus flinched as if he'd been slapped. "Definitely a bad idea… I thought you and I could plan it, he's got enough to deal with right now."

"Yeah. Yeah, we can handle it," Sirius sighed, running a hand through his hair. "She has a sister, doesn't she?"

Remus nodded. "Petunia," he said. "Not the kindest of all creatures, and I don't know that she thought too highly of Lily."

"Wasn't she at their wedding?"

"Yeah, but I think that was more of Lily's mother's doing than Petunia actually caring about Lily."

"Should we tell her what happened, do you think?"

"At some point, yes," Remus said. "They were sisters. You'd think Petunia would want to say goodbye…" he trailed off looking a bit confused at his statement as though he'd only just realized they'd have to say goodbye to Lily.

"Can I ask you something, Remus?" Sirius asked hesitantly.

Wiping at his eyes roughly, Remus nodded.

"Did you love her?"

"Yes," Remus answered promptly and firmly. "She was like a sister to me, and I loved her as such. But I'm not sure that's what you meant… No, I didn't love Lily the way James does. I've never had fantasies or thoughts about us being together or getting married and having a family. Is that what you meant?"

Sirius nodded and looked away. "Sorry I asked," he muttered.

Remus smiled slightly, almost painfully. "It's all right. We should get back inside, eh?"

Sirius only nodded again and followed his friend back into the Hospital Wing.

…

The next morning, James woke from a restless sleep. He seemed to be completely recovered from the Wizard Flu – he'd finally allowed Pomfrey to force a few potions down his throat. He felt empty, lost, hopeless. His mind was blank; his body was numb save the warm feeling of Harry on his chest. He hugged his son closer to him, wondering how they would ever live happily again without-

He couldn't even think her name without feeling a sharp pain in his heart.

Remus brought breakfast later in the morning, but James had no appetite. How could he eat knowing his life would never be the same? How could he possibly be hungry knowing he'd never see her smiling face again, or hear her angelic voice tell him she loved him?

His friends tried talking to him, but his mind wouldn't allow him to respond. Whatever they were saying wasn't important anyway… He tried to keep his mind off her, but every time Harry looked at him with her emerald green eyes, he felt his world shatter all over again. How would he ever be able to look at his son again without thinking over her? It was impossible…

Visitors flooded in and out of the Hospital Wing through out the day – Dumbledore, Hagrid, McGonagall, various members of the Order – to give James their condolences and to tell him that if there was anything they could do… Well, there was one thing they could do. They could go back in time and make it so he hadn't lost the love of his life. He tried telling them this and that if they couldn't manage that seemingly simple task then just leave him and his son the hell alone, but all he could do was nod and avoid their sympathetic eyes. He didn't need their bloody sympathy – he needed his wife.

At some point during the night, Sirius and Remus decided he needed to get out of bed and get dressed. He didn't see the point in this – why couldn't he just say in bed for the rest of what was sure to be a miserable life for him? He decided that agreeing was far easier than arguing – he didn't have the strength – and he let Sirius help him change from the hospital pajamas he'd been wearing for days. In order to change his shirt, however, he realized he'd have to put Harry down. He didn't want to do this; he was afraid that if he didn't hold Harry with every ounce of strength he had left, his son would disappear from his life too. Painfully, he finally handed Harry over to Remus, but wouldn't let the boy out of his sight while he changed his shirt.

Looking down at himself, he realized that she'd bought him the shirt he was currently wearing, and fell into another spell of despair and tears. He'd only had his face buried in his hands for seconds when he felt a small hand touch his arm. He looked up to find Harry looking back at him wide-eyed and with a trembling lip. James took his son from Remus' arms and hugged him tightly again.

"James…" Sirius said quietly and reluctantly. James looked up, his entire body shaking. "We need to go see Dumbledore… All of us…"

James tried to say he didn't want to see Dumbledore; what could Dumbledore do to take away the horrendous pain he was going through? He barely managed a nod and his friends helped him stand – it seemed he had been hit with a Jelly-Legs Jinx – and led him and his son out of the hospital wing and through the Hogwarts corridors.

The school seemed to have gone through drastic renovations since James had last walked through its halls. No longer did it have the comforting feel of home; no longer did it fill James' heart with a sense of belonging. It felt cold, dark, wrong, and completely unlike what Hogwarts should. Somehow they made it to Dumbledore's office just as they had two days before, when James still had her… He blinked back a fresh wave of tears and stepped onto the moving staircase. Not even Dumbledore's office looked the same as it once had – he wondered idly if anything would ever look the same as it once did.

There was no comforting smile on the headmaster's face this evening. James probably would have slapped Dumbledore if the old man had had the audacity to smile at him. He respected the older wizard immensely, but he couldn't handle Dumbledore being able to smile when he felt he'd never be able to do so again himself.

James sat on Dumbledore's sofa while Sirius and Remus sat in chairs across from the headmaster's desk. Shifting Harry in his arms, James looked at Dumbledore's desk and saw a corner of the _Daily Prophet_. He wasn't going to think anymore of it, but he saw something on the paper that made him stand and take it from the desk. Remus seemed to pale a bit more than usual when he realized what James was doing, and Sirius made to take the paper away from him. One glare from James made him back down.

_**He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Defeated!**_

_More news from Godric's Hollow points to thirteen month old Harry Potter, son to Auror James Potter and his wife Lily, being the reason the wizarding world has been woken from a nearly eleven year nightmare. Though it is not clear how a child so young survived the dreaded Killing Curse when hundreds others have perished – including the child's young mother, Lily Potter – Harry Potter is being toasted all over the world for his defeat of the Dark Lord._

_Currently, Harry Potter is rumored to be at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with his father, who was unavailable for comment. A family friend of the Potters, Auror Sirius Black was quoted yesterday morning saying, "Anyone who harasses James Potter or his son will find out exactly why Mad-Eye put me on probation last year." Black was rumored to have cursed a fellow Auror after a confrontation during a training exercise at the Ministry of Magic. The other Auror, whose name remains confidential, was in St. Mungo's Hospital for nearly two weeks for treatment-_

James looked up from the newspaper to his friends' worried faces and Dumbledore. He looked down at his son, who he just noticed was sporting a cut in the shape of a lightning bolt. Gently, James ran a shaking finger across the injury before kissing Harry's forehead softly. He and Lily had known of the Prophecy for a year, and though James tried to pretend it didn't exist, Lily had insisted they put extra wards and protective charms around their home. _She was always the smart one_, he thought miserably. _She was always the one, and the only one, to tell me when I was wrong…_

His grip around Harry was increasing, and he only realized it when his son tiredly reached up and pinched his nose. "Sorry, mate," he whispered hoarsely, surprised to hear his own voice at all. He looked away from Harry, feeling three different pairs of eyes on him. Dumbledore was the first to speak.

"I know you're tiring of hearing this, and that it probably does not mean much to you, James, but I am terribly sorry for your loss," the headmaster said quietly. James tried to avert his eyes, but the headmaster's blue ones wouldn't allow it. "Our primary concern right now is Harry's safety. I realize you will not wish to remain at Hogwarts very much longer than you have, so I would like to discuss a few options with you." Sirius opened his mouth, but Remus quickly silenced him with a sharp elbow to the ribs. "You may, of course, take Harry and stay with Remus or Sirius for the time being. There is one problem I foresee with this; there are still many Death Eaters who have eluded Ministry capture, and they are less than thrilled that their master is gone. I fear they may try and seek out Harry in the hopes of brining Lord Voldemort back to power."

Sirius opened his mouth again, but Remus cut him off. The Auror was looking quite irritated with his friend at the moment. "Why would they think that by finding Harry it will bring Lord Voldemort back, though? It makes no sense."

"They are desperate, Remus," Dumbledore said. "For many years, Voldemort led them, directed them. They know no other way of life, and the only way for them to escape a life term in Azkaban prison is to have Voldemort protecting them."

"So what you're saying, sir," Sirius began, "is that Harry wouldn't be safe with three fully trained wizards, two of whom happen to be Aurors, and one who happens to be his father?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "That is not what I'm saying at all, Sirius. I believe wholeheartedly that James, Remus, and yourself are fully capable of keeping Harry out of harm's way. But I do have a suggestion to give Harry maximum protection, and it is only a suggestion…" Dumbledore turned to James. "Lily sacrificed her life to save Harry's, James," Dumbledore said simply. "This type of magic, this type of love evokes an ancient protection that can keep Harry from being touched by any force that wishes him ill."

"How?" James managed to choke out.

"His mother's blood," Dumbledore said. "Any place that Harry can call home, a place in which Lily's blood dwells he will remain safe."

James furrowed his brow as he tried to work out what exactly Dumbledore was on about. He and Sirius seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time, but James beat Sirius to speaking. "No," he said forcefully. "Lily's only living relative is her sister. There's no way in hell he's going there. No way, over my dead body."

"It would only be a temporary situation," Dumbledore pressed.

"You're not taking my son away from me," James practically yelled. "I've already lost her; I will not lose him."

Dumbledore inclined his head. "I understand fully, James. As I said, it was merely a suggestion. In that case, I believe Remus has invited you to stay with him for as long as needed. Alastor Moody and I will place the strongest wards possible around Remus' land to ensure Harry's and your protection."

"Didn't you say something last night about the Fidelius Charm, sir?" Remus asked quietly.

"Indeed I did, but that will be a last resort. I do not believe it will be required," Dumbledore said.

James tuned out the rest of the conversation. He looked down to his lap and found Harry sleeping peacefully against his stomach, his thumb in his mouth. The child had no idea that he would never see his mother again. He had no idea that he was now the savior of the wizarding world. He was blissfully oblivious to it all. How could Dumbledore possibly think that James would agree to send Harry to Lily's sister? James understood the blood protection, but dammit, he was Harry's father. If he couldn't keep Harry safe, then how could anyone else? Of course, he couldn't keep Lily safe when he'd swore he would… But he'd left Lily when he shouldn't have. He would never leave Harry… Harry was all he had left, the only thing keeping him alive. Nobody was going to take what was left of his family. Not Dumbledore, not the Death Eaters, not anyone.

* * *

**AN: **I wasn't going to update this until tomorrow, but I finished my school work early. :sighs in major relief: I need a vacation, guys... Just a few weeks where all I have to worry about is writing. But we all know that isn't going to happen anytime soon... Anyway, enough of my ranting. Please review! 


	6. Saying Goodbye

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Six_

In the days leading up to Lily's funeral, Sirius, James, Remus, and Harry relocated themselves to Remus' small cottage in Kent. Though nobody believed James gave a damn about where he was, Sirius decided it was best for him and his son to get away from Hogwarts. Remus suspected it was the arrival of Severus Snape at the castle for the upcoming school term that caused Sirius to make this decision.

At any rate, their move to the cottage did nothing to improve James' spirits. He'd gone into one of Remus' spare bedrooms and hadn't been seen for nearly a day. His friends were worried that he may have done something to himself in his depression, but when they went to check on him at dinnertime two nights after their arrival, they found him sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from the door. The curtains had been drawn tight and charmed to keep all light out of the room. The blankets and sheets were bunched up in the middle of the bed, as though James had tried to sleep but had done nothing but toss and turn.

Sirius started to go into the room, but Remus pulled him back. "Leave him be for a while," he said quietly. "He'll come to us if he wants to talk." Sirius wanted to argue, to tell Remus that his best friend needed him, but Remus had already closed the door and was walking back into the living room where Harry was playing.

Remus sat on the carpet next to Harry as the child played with a few toys the Longbottoms had given him. All of his own toys had been destroyed, and neither Sirius nor Remus wanted to leave the cottage long enough to buy him any new ones.

"Is everything ready for the… thing?" Sirius asked lamely, sitting heavily on the sofa.

Remus assumed he was talking about the funeral. "Yes," he said quietly, taking a block Harry offered him. "Dorcas Meadowes and Emmeline Vance offered to go to Madam Malkin's to get Harry and James some new dress robes."

Sirius nodded. "That's nice of them," he said hoarsely. "Were you able to contact Lily's sister?"

"Yes," Remus said a bit darkly. "I never did enjoy talking to her."

"How'd she take it?"

"I'll tell you later. It's not an appropriate conversation for Harry to hear."

Sirius' eyebrows shot up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Mrs. Petunia Dursley wasn't fond of her sister, and it shows."

"Is she coming, at least?"

"Sirius, I honestly think it would be better for everybody if she didn't," Remus said quietly, placing Harry's block on the multi-colored tower the child had built. "She made it quite clear that she doesn't care for Lily, and she's convinced herself that-" Remus hesitated, unsure if he should tell Sirius what Petunia had told him. Sirius reacted rather unpredictably at times… "She said that Lily deserved what she got…"

Before Sirius could so much as react to what Remus had told him, the doorbell rang. Almost automatically, Sirius and Remus took out their wands. Sirius motioned for Remus to remain with Harry and to keep his wand out while he answered the door. "Who's there?" the Auror called through the door.

"Emmeline and Dorcas," a voice called out.

Sirius glanced back at Remus, who'd lowered his wand and lessened his grip on Harry. Sirius opened the door a crack to be sure it was who the voice said it was – the two witches were carrying many bags and smiled a bit at the wizard before he fully opened the door. "Didn't think you were coming until tomorrow," he said as Dorcas and Emmeline entered the cottage.

"Well, we weren't," Dorcas explained quietly, setting her bags beside the sofa. "But we were in Diagon Alley this morning, and we thought we'd get this over with today."

Sirius nodded as Emmeline sat across from Remus on the floor and took Harry into her arms. Lily, Emmeline, and Dorcas had all been good friends in Hogwarts, though Emmeline was a year below the other two. She'd also been a Prefect with Lily and Remus. "We got a few things for Harry as well. Alice mentioned that all his toys and things were lost," Emmeline said, allowing Harry to turn in her arms to pick up a Muggle toy car.

Remus stood from the floor, confident that Emmeline could keep Harry occupied for a bit. "I'm sure Harry will appreciate that. Would you two like anything from the kitchen?"

"I'll take a Firewhiskey if you've got it, Remus," Sirius said quietly, sitting on the sofa beside Dorcas.

"That sounds good, actually," Dorcas agreed. Emmeline nodded as well, so Remus entered the kitchen in search of a few glasses and a new bottle of Firewhiskey. He heard a door in the hallway open and saw James stagger out, squinting his eyes at the unfamiliar light.

"Hey, James," Remus said quietly as his friend looked around as if he didn't know where he was. "Would you care for a glass of Firewhiskey?"

"Where's Harry?" James asked hoarsely, ignoring Remus' question.

"In the living room with Sirius, Dorcas, and Emmeline," Remus replied. "The girls brought over dress robes for you and Harry, and they also picked up a few things for Harry to play with."

James looked at him in confusion. "Why dress robes?"

Remus could have hit himself as he tried to figure out what to say. "Er, well, for, um… Lily's… er… her f-funeral," he said uncomfortably. James seemed to lose his balance, and Remus dropped the glasses he'd been holding to catch his friend, and lead him to a chair.

"Remus, what happened? You all right?" Sirius called.

"Just dropped the glasses," Remus called back. Sirius and Dorcas entered the kitchen and spotted James with Remus in a chair beside him. Dorcas waved her wand to repair the glasses while Sirius sat on James' other side.

"Funeral?" James muttered weakly, looking pleadingly at Remus to tell him it wasn't true. He obviously hadn't noticed Sirius and Dorcas' arrival in the kitchen. Sirius sighed heavily and glared slightly at Remus – they'd agreed to tell James about the funeral together.

Remus shrugged an apology at Sirius. "Sirius and I have already arranged everything, so you don't have to do anything," Remus said quietly.

James buried his face in his hands. "Did – did you get her a nice…" James sniffed heavily, "a nice casket?" he asked, his voice cracking.

"The nicest we could find," Sirius assured, blinking back tears.

"And roses… she likes roses… hates lilies…"

"We know, James," Remus said. "We got her lots of roses…"

James nodded weakly. "Where's my son?"

Dorcas went into the living room and came back seconds later with Harry in her arms. "Da!" the infant greeted happily. James took his son in his arms and stood shakily. Without another word, he and Harry disappeared back into James' room.

* * *

On the morning of Lily's funeral, Sirius stood in front of Remus' cottage waiting for the Ministry car that would take them to the cemetery. In his right hand he held his wand, and in his left was a cigarette. He hadn't smoked since he was fifteen, but he'd found the old habit calming over the last few days. If Remus caught him, he'd probably be punched.

The Full moon had been the night before, and Remus had gone back to Hogwarts alone to spend the night in the Shrieking Shack, not wanting to be anywhere near Harry during his transformation. Sirius offered to go with him, but someone needed to stay with James. Remus had returned only a few hours before, looking pale and exhausted, but most of his injuries had been mended by Madam Pomfrey before he'd left the school.

James hadn't spoken a word since he'd found out about the funeral. The only nutrients James had taken into his body over the last week were glasses of water with replenishing potions that Sirius made him drink. He'd lost the will to do anything – not even Harry's presence was enough to comfort him anymore. Today would probably be the hardest day James had ever endured, and Sirius wouldn't be leaving his side.

"Sirius, we've got a problem," Remus said hastily from the front door. Sirius dropped his cigarette to the ground and stamped it out with his foot.

"What is it?" Sirius asked, going back into the cottage.

Remus sniffed around him and sighed disapprovingly before answering. "James refuses to get dressed. He threatened to hex me if I didn't leave… We've got to be there in an hour, Sirius."

"All right, I'll see what I can do," Sirius muttered. "Is Harry ready?"

Remus nodded. "He's playing in the living room now," he said, gesturing to the room. Sirius nodded and went down the hall.

Sirius entered James' dark bedroom and found his best friend predictably perched at the edge of the bed, his head buried in his hands. The black dress robes Emmeline and Dorcas had bought for him were bunched up in a ball in a corner of the room as though James had thrown them there. Sirius ran a shaking hand through his hair and slowly moved around the bed to kneel in front of James. "Prongs," he said quietly. "James, look at me."

Very slowly, James lowered his hands from his face. Sirius' heart clenched automatically when he realized James was crying again. "I'm not going," he whispered hoarsely. "I won't…"

Sirius bit his lip. "You have to go, mate. I know you don't want to, but you've got to…"

"Why?" James asked harshly. "What's the point? It's not going to bring her back."

"You've got to go because you love her," Sirius said quietly. "She'd want you to be there."

"How the hell do you know what she would want? I'm her husband…"

"I know, James… But don't you want to say goodbye?"

"No," James said firmly.

"Why?"

"Because if I did that… I'd be admitting she's really gone…"

Sirius winced painfully at the sound of James' voice. He sounded so weak, so tired, so helpless. Sirius had never heard James sound like that in his life. "James, I know I can't begin to imagine how hard this is for you, but you've got to do this…"

"Do you know what the last thing I said to her was?" James asked suddenly. Sirius shook his head. "It should have been 'I love you', but it wasn't. She didn't want me to go to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore. She didn't even want me to go to work that day because I was sick. I yelled at her, Sirius. I told her I was fine and she needed to butt out. It was the fever talking, I know, but the look on her face after I yelled at her…" James trailed off, looking more miserable and depressed than ever.

Sirius sighed. "James… Lily knew you loved her…"

"But I should have _told _her! I should have been there to protect her. I could have saved her…"

"If you'd been there, Voldemort would have killed you too, and Harry would be an orphan right now. But he still has you," Sirius said, not sure if this was the right thing to say. It didn't seem to matter, though; James acted as though he hadn't heard a word Sirius was saying. "James, please get dressed, we've got to leave soon… Do it for me and Remus, eh?"

After a few moments of tense, miserable silence, James nodded slightly, and Sirius nodded back. Sirius stood to pick up the dressed robes from the corner and waved his wand over them to take out the wrinkles. With another wave of his wand, James' face was clean-shaven, rid of the beard that had begun to form. He thought about running a comb through James' messy hair, but remembered that, regardless of what she'd said in school, Lily had liked his hair. Just as they were about to leave the room, Remus entered to tell them the Ministry car had arrived.

* * *

Regardless of the mood surrounding them, the sky was a bright forget-me-not blue with not one cloud present. Sirius, Remus, and James got out of the Ministry car and made their way up the hill to where the funeral would be held. Members of the Order stood guard around the cemetery gates to ensure only family and close friends of the Potters were admitted. Dumbledore didn't think it would help James one bit to have the public floating around. Nothing stopped people from gathering around the gates, however; photographers and reporters who were obviously waiting for James' arrival began to circle around the three friends and Harry, who was held tightly in his father's arms. Sirius and Remus both took their wands out on the reporters until James and Harry were safely inside the gates.

"Mr. Potter!" called one of the reporters. "Is it true your son is already the most powerful wizard ever born?"

"Does your son have dark powers, Mr. Potter?" called another.

"It is true that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is Harry's biological father?" asked yet another. Sirius spun around on his heel, prepared to curse this reporter, but Frank Longbottom had already beaten him to it - just as Sirius had raised his wand and opened his mouth, the reporter was being thrown back against a tree. Sirius nodded his thanks to Frank and caught up with Remus, James, and Harry at the very front, where the chairs had been set up.

For long minutes, James stared at the open mahogany casket that held his wife. Sirius could see Lily's dark red hair blowing slightly as a breeze passed over her still figure. Tears prickled at the corners of his eyes as he sat on James' right, Remus on his left. He took Harry from James, who'd started shaking uncontrollably.

Sirius looked around at the audience, most of who were dabbing at their eyes with handkerchiefs as they walked to their seats. Though Lily only had one remaining blood relative, her sister, she'd always been very popular – anyone who'd had the privilege of meeting her had loved her. Most of their old professors from Hogwarts were just arriving: Dumbledore led the way somberly; McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey crying into one another's shoulders; Flitwick and Sprout; Slughorn, the old Potions master, with Hagrid; and…

"You've got to be kidding me…" Sirius muttered, his blood beginning to boil in anger. Remus turned towards him.

"What is it?" he asked, leaning behind James.

"What in the bloody hell is _he_ doing here?" Sirius growled, half tempted to stand and throw the wizard out.

"Who?" Remus asked, craning his neck to see who had upset his friend by their mere presence.

"He has no right to be here…"

"Sirius, who are you-"

"Snape."

"Oh," Remus said, completely understanding Sirius' reaction and resentment. "Dumbledore probably made him come."

"He's only here to make sure she's really dead," Sirius muttered darkly, watching his enemy sit at the very back.

Remus glared at him. "Do you really need to say that in front of James?"

Sirius turned to see James' reaction, but the wizard was staring longingly at Lily's casket. "Sorry. Not like he's listening, anyway…"

Just before the funeral began, Sirius saw a bony, horse-faced woman pass by the Order guards and sit in a chair closest to the way out, looking around at the witches and wizards warily. He recognized the woman as Lily's sister, Petunia, and vaguely thought there could not have been two women in existence who looked less like each other.

People stood one by one before the attendees, speaking of Lily's kindness to others, her remarkable generosity, and how amazing she'd been in general. Dumbledore said many kind things about the young witch, about how intelligent she'd been, and about her year as Head Girl. Remus even stood before the crowd relaying stories about Lily, but he had to be led away halfway through his eulogy when he became too choked up to continue. Sirius finished for him, and even tried telling a joke about how Lily used to hex him and James for being prats. The story of the time she'd turned their hair bright pink received a few watery smiles in return.

Before any of them were ready, the time for final goodbyes had come. James stood first, brushing off Sirius' attempt to go with him – he needed to go alone. He gripped the edge of Lily's casket tightly, his knees buckling beneath him, but no one made a move to help him. He was crying freely now, loud painful sobs escaping his throat. Harry wriggled free of Remus' grip and dropped to the ground. He walked over to his father and tugged at his robes. James finally realized that Harry was trying to get his attention and bent to pick up the infant. Harry leaned over James' arms and touched Lily's pale face with his tiny hands.

"Ma!" he said loudly as if he was trying to wake Lily up. Many of the witch's sobs increased at the innocent action. Sirius looked over and saw Remus had buried his head in his hands, and his shoulders were shaking horribly. Sirius slid over into James' chair and pulled his friend into a hug, his own tears flooding from his eyes.

Both Potters kissed Lily's forehead, James' lips lingering a little longer when he kissed her lips, and turned back to their seat. Remus went next, and returned five minutes later with tears streaming down his cheeks, the sleeve of his robes soaked from where he'd wiped his eyes. Sirius stood and made his way forward.

"I know we didn't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things," Sirius began hoarsely, tracing a shaking finger across Lily's cheek where either James' or Remus' tears had fallen. "But I always respected you, and over the last few years, I've come to love you like a sister. I'll take care of James and Harry for you, I promise. Harry will always know how much you loved him, and what you did for him, Lily," Sirius' voice caught in his throat. "I'll miss arguing with you, and I'll miss you threatening to hex me everyday," he smiled sadly. "Goodbye, Evans," he said. He wanted to say so much more, but he no longer trusted his voice. He moved a strand of hair from her face and kissed her forehead.

Sirius sat beside James again, and put an arm around the crying wizard. James leaned into Sirius' chest, still sobbing painfully. Remus held Harry as wizard after wizard, witch after witch, came to give their condolences to the Potters after saying goodbye to Lily. Remus and Sirius accepted them for Harry and James, and thanked them hoarsely for coming.

Petunia Dursley was the last to say goodbye to Lily. If the woman had said anything to her sister, it was too inaudible to hear. She didn't even seem to have shed a tear yet. Tentatively, Petunia reached out a bony hand and placed something on top of Lily's robes. Before the casket was closed, Sirius saw that she'd placed a Muggle photograph of a red-haired girl around five-years-old with her arms wrapped tightly around a blonde girl of about eleven or twelve. Both were smiling brightly at the camera.

The casket was carefully lowered into the ground and Harry, with Remus' assistance, threw in the first handful of dirt. With a wave of a wand from the cemetery's groundskeeper, the hole that held Lily's casket was filled and covered with grass to match the ground around it. People finally started to leave, but Sirius and Remus remained close to James as he sat with his knees pulled to his chest.

James remained unmoving in the spot nearest to Lily's head until way past sunset. Harry wandered over to him at some point and sat in his lap, hugging him tightly around the neck. Neither of James' friends asked if he was ready to leave – they simply waited for him in silence. Finally, just after eight p.m. James stood with Harry, walked past Sirius and Remus, and went back to the awaiting Ministry car.

* * *

**AN: **Anybody crying yet? Thank you for the reviews so far! They are much appreciated. More to come! Please review! 


	7. Losing

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Seven_

James woke suddenly and gratefully, sweating heavily and panting, trying to catch his breath as though he'd just run from London to Hogwarts, and back. He stared straight up at the popcorn ceiling of the guestroom in Remus' cottage he'd been occupying for the last month, trying to get the images of his most recent nightmare out of his mind. The last month had been one long nightmare for him that he'd been reliving every waking moment of his life, but when he slept, it only got worse.

Groaning, he threw his blankets at the foot of the bed and stood, crossing the room to Harry's cot. His baby boy slept peacefully, his dreams undisturbed. James reached down and moved the jet black hair away from the infant's forehead to examine the lightning bolt cut that had begun to fade into a scar. Gently, the wizard traced it with his index finger, trying not to recall the night Harry received it.

After Lily's funeral, James had made a conscious effort to improve his mood – it'd been harder than he thought it would be. He never realized how dependent he'd become on his wife in their short three years of marriage – not nearly long enough in James' opinion. He relied upon her more than he wanted to admit. For the first two weeks after her death, he hadn't slept a wink because she wasn't beside him. He didn't react this badly when his parents died, but then again, he didn't have the same relationship with them that he had with Lily – if he had, he'd get stranger looks from people than he already got.

His stomach rumbled loudly and he realized he hadn't eaten in nearly two days. He leaned over the bars of the cot to kiss Harry's forehead and headed to the kitchen to see if his friends had saved him any dinner. James was grateful to Sirius and Remus for everything they'd done for him since… it happened. Sirius had gone to Mad-Eye to request time off from the Ministry to stay at the cottage with James. Mad-Eye decided that instead of giving Sirius a vacation, he'd give the younger wizard a new assignment. Though Voldemort had fallen, there were still Death Eaters on the loose. Sirius' new assignment was to be James' "bodyguard". So far, though, all James had seen him guard was the sofa and the fridge.

In the kitchen, James retrieved a Butterbeer and leaned against the counter to sip it. There was a dull thud in the backyard and James turned to the window to see shadow move past it. James slowly placed his Butterbeer on the counter and took his wand out of the elastic of his pajama bottoms. He carefully stepped through the kitchen, remembering every spot where the floor creaked from all the times he and his friends snuck out of Remus' house late at night when they were kids. Auror training kicking in, James peeked out the door just in time to see the shadow turn a corner around the cottage. As quietly as he could, he pushed open the door and stepped out onto the damp grass without thinking that it would be much smarter to go wake his friends. He crept silently across the yard and raised his wand as he reached the corner.

"_STUPEFY!_" cried a voice in the darkness.

"_PROTEGO!_" James yelled at the same time.

"Prongs?"

"Padfoot?"

"What the hell are you doing?" Sirius asked, moving forward. "_Lumos_," he muttered, giving them a bit of light.

"I could ask you the same," James replied, lowering his wand.

Sirius reached into his pocket and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He put one in his mouth and lit it with his wand. "Couldn't sleep," he said around the cigarette. "You neither, huh?"

James shook his head. "I had that dream again," he said quietly.

"You want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about?" James said bitterly. "I keep seeing my wife die every time I close my eyes."

Sirius sighed. "Have you thought about a Dreamless Sleep Potion? I'm sure Pomfrey can give you one…"

"All that'll do is make me think about it more when I'm awake."

The two friends walked back to the door and sat on the steps. James reached up to Sirius' lips and took the cigarette from him, inhaling and exhaling himself. Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Since when do you smoke?" he asked.

"Since when do you?" James countered, staring straight ahead at the trees.

"Touché," Sirius replied. Was it a trick of the light that made it look like James' lips twitch? Sirius lit another cigarette and they sat quietly for a few minutes before James expressed his worries.

"What am I going to do, Sirius?" he asked, his voice barely a shaky whisper. "I never imagined my life without her. I never wanted to… I didn't know it was possible to love someone so much. I would have done anything for her. I would have _died_ for her…" James took a long drag off the cigarette. "Why wasn't it me? She didn't deserve to die. Harry needs his mum, he doesn't need me moping around feeling sorry for myself-"

"Stop," Sirius said quietly but firmly. "I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again, James. Harry loves you and he does need you. If something would have happened to you, he'd have to go to a foster family, or worse, Lily's sister."

"No, he'd live with you," James corrected him. "You're his godfather."

"James, I'm not fit to raise a kid. I don't know the first thing about it. I mean, yeah, I've babysat him a few times, and I can change his nappie if need be, but you are what he needs."

"Did I ever tell you about the first night we brought him home from the hospital?" Sirius shook his head. "Well, he started crying at, like, three a.m., and I told Lily to stay in bed, that I could take care of him. When I got into the nursery, his face was red and soaked with tears, and I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was wrong with him. I changed his nappie, gave him a fresh bottle, I tried making funny faces and playing with him, but he wouldn't stop crying. Lily came in while I was bouncing him on my knee and picked him up. Sirius, it was like magic the way he stopped crying. I still don't know how she did it… How am I going to raise him if I can't even get him to stop crying?"

Sirius sighed. "James, that was different. That was the first night, all parents go through that. Ask Frank Longbottom what he went through when he brought his kid home. Look, you're brilliant with Harry, and you're a brilliant father."

James shook his head. "I can't do it without Lily, Sirius. It's like… playing Quidditch without a broomstick. We had so many things we wanted to do. Did I tell you we were trying to have another baby? Yeah, we've been trying since March. We wanted Harry to have brothers and sisters. She always said that when they were little, she and her sister were really close – they didn't start to drift apart until Lily started Hogwarts. The closest thing I ever had to brothers were you, Remus, and Pete, and I wanted Harry to know what it felt like to have that…" James turned to Sirius. "For the first time in my life, Sirius, I'm really scared. What if something happens to Harry? Where will that leave me?"

"Nothing will happen to Harry, I promise," Sirius said. "Remus and I are here for you, no matter what. Anything you need, whenever you need it."

"Thanks, Padfoot," James said quietly.

"Anytime, Prongs."

The light in the kitchen, and almost in unison, Sirius and James put out their cigarettes before Remus opened the door. He raised an eyebrow at the pair of them, but didn't say anything about the cloud of smoke that hung over their heads. "You two can't sleep, either, eh?" They shook their heads. "Harry woke me up," Remus continued. "He's fine!" he added hastily at James' face. "He was just babbling on about God knows what… Thin walls in this place."

"Moony, you could sleep through the end of the bloody world," Sirius said flatly, making room for Remus to sit between him and James on the step. "The only one who slept heavier than you was Wormtail-"

"Speaking of Wormtail," James said quietly. "Where's he been?"

James watched his two best friends exchange a look. "Well," Sirius began. "He, er…"

"James, Peter… he was the spy," Remus said finally. "He… he was at your place the night… well, the night Lily died."

James looked away from his friends, his jaw clenched. "What happened to him?" he asked in a deathly calm voice.

"Dead," Remus said a bit fiercely. "The blast of the house exploding killed him. All the Ministry found of him was a finger…"

* * *

As the days went on, Harry finally seemed to notice a change in his home life. As a result, he became moody. More than once, his meals ended up as a mess on the kitchen floor for his father and his friends to clean up. One tantrum resulted in Remus getting a large knot on his forehead after Harry threw a block at him – Sirius was just impressed the one-year-old could throw that hard. When it came time to give Harry a bath, James usually exited the bathroom wetter than his son.

The frustration of dealing with Harry seemed to momentarily take James' mind off Lily, but once Harry would calm down, thoughts about how Lily would have done a better job flooded his mind. But the worst of the problems with Harry happened when Sirius and Remus had taken over.

Harry refused to eat his cheerios no matter what Sirius did. The wizard tired pretending the spoon was a broomstick and even made sounds as the spoon approached Harry's mouth. When Sirius' head was covered with milk and cheerios, he gave up and let Remus try. The werewolf had less luck than Sirius, and his attempts ended with Harry crying loud enough to attract Remus' neighbors thirty miles away.

"I can't handle this!" Sirius yelled over Harry's wails. "Where's my wand?"

"Sirius, if you even think about using a Silencing Charm on Harry, you'll find out why James was in hospital in fourth year for eating my last Chocolate Frog," Remus threatened.

"I wasn't really going to do it!" Sirius insisted. "Come on, Moony, there's got to be something we can do!"

Remus sighed and looked around the kitchen. James was in the shower and his best friends said they'd have no problem giving Harry breakfast. _Just goes to show even Sirius Black is wrong sometimes,_ he thought irritably. Remus went to the fridge and thought about giving Harry a Chocolate Frog – that's what his mother did when he cried as a baby – but pulled out a jug of apple juice instead. He poured some juice into Harry's favorite sippy cup – the one shaped like a penguin – and handed it to the child. After a few sips, the crying subsided and the tears stopped, and Harry was content again.

Sirius looked at him in awe. "How'd you know to do that?" he demanded.

Remus shrugged. "Lily told me it's the only thing he'll drink…"

Sirius nodded silently and sat beside Harry at the table. He didn't want to think that James had been right in saying he and Harry couldn't make it without Lily, but he was starting to believe his best friend had a point that it would be hard. Even Sirius was finding it difficult to get through his days without the redhead. Lily had been a constant thing in Sirius' life since he was eleven. Granted, the majority of the time he'd known Lily was spent with him getting yelled at by her, but he'd gotten used to it, even started to depend on it – his day just wasn't complete until Lily threatened to hex him to France and back.

When she and James finally got together in seventh year, Sirius started to think of Lily as a sister – all the Marauders did. Well, except James. But all four of them had always been a little bit in love with Lily Evans – it was hard not to love her. Reluctantly, she'd come to accept James' friends, and regardless of how she treated Sirius, he knew she loved him back.

"Any plans today?" Remus asked, watching Harry sip happily at his cup.

Sirius shook his head and swiped quickly at his eyes. "No," he said a bit hoarsely. He cleared his throat. "Mad-Eye wants me to strengthen the wards, but other than that, I've got nothing going on. You?"

"I've got to go to Diagon Alley for a few things, and then I wanted to go up to Hogwarts."

"For what?"

Remus shrugged. "A quick word with Dumbledore. It's not important."

Sirius nodded as James entered the kitchen dressed in black slacks and a nice blue shirt. His friends each raised an eyebrow. "Morning, Prongs," Sirius said slowly. "Good shower."

James shrugged wordlessly as he poured milk over his cheerios and sat at the table. "Not bad," he muttered, scooping the cereal onto his spoon and into his mouth. "Is Harry all right? I heard him crying."

"Yeah, he's fine," Sirius said. "Moony gave him some apple juice and he quit crying real quick."

James nodded.

Remus glanced quickly at Sirius. "Er, James? What are you so dressed up for?"

James was about to take another bite of cereal but stopped and lowered his spoon back to the bowl. "Nothing special," he muttered. "Can one of you watch Harry for a few hours?"

"Why?" Sirius asked slowly.

"Because I can't take him with me…"

"Where are you going?"

"What's it matter?"

"Because I'm supposed to be your guard, James, and I can't very well do that when you just decide to run off somewhere, now can I?"

"Sirius, I don't need a guard," James said quietly, not looking at his friends. "I'm a qualified wizard and an Auror. I can take care of myself."

"I didn't ask if you can take care of yourself-"

"Enough," Remus said, breaking up the argument that was surely to come if Sirius would have finished that sentence. "James, we're just wondering where you're going. If something were to happen, we'd like to know where we can find you…"

James rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm going to Godric's Hollow to see my house."

Remus winced. "I'm not so sure that's the best idea," he said carefully.

"Why?"

"James, the house is destroyed…"

"I know that," James said a little harsher than he intended.

"So why do you want to go there?" Sirius asked.

"Because it's my home, and I want to see what's left of it. Now if you two are quite done interrogating me, I'd like to go." James pushed his bowl away from him and stood from the table, taking his wand from his pocket. "Will one of you watch Harry?" he asked again.

Sirius nodded. "Yeah, I'll watch him," he said quietly.

"Thank you," James said before Disapparating.

"That's a bad idea, isn't it?" Sirius asked Remus.

Remus nodded. "Very bad idea," he said quietly. "Do you think we should follow him? Make sure he doesn't get into any trouble?"

"No," Sirius said, shaking his head. "He'll just get more pissed off at us. You know he doesn't like to be coddled, even if it's just us making sure someone doesn't ambush him."

* * *

James appeared on the sidewalk in front of his home, or what was left of it. He stared at the wreckage with a calm face, his eyes filling with tears as he tried not to blink. He crossed through the gate slowly and did his best not to stumble to the spot that had once been his front door. There was absolutely nothing left of the house, save half a wall where the fireplace still stood. The furniture was still partly there, though most of it was charred beyond recognition. He walked across the rubble to where he knew the sofa in the living room to be, and sat on what remained of it.

This was where Lily spent her last moments. He ran a hand over the soot covered fabric. Harry was just behind her when she tried to hide him from Voldemort. James recalled that Dumbledore said she never used her wand, that she probably didn't want to risk exposing Harry to the Dark Lord. The wand wasn't buried with her, James would have seen it. So where was it?

Without realizing it, James was suddenly on his hands and knees, digging through the rubble and dirt, searching under the sofa and the coffee table, crawling across the living room to the dining room. _It has to be here…_ he thought desperately, looking around for anywhere it could possibly be hidden under.

He sat against what was left of the dining room wall and pulled his knees to his chest. He didn't know why he needed to find Lily's wand, but if he didn't find it, he'd feel as though he'd failed again. Lily never had to get a replacement wand – the one she had, she'd had since she was eleven. It was her most prized possession. It first tool for magic she'd ever gotten, and James couldn't even find it.

He looked around, his vision strangely blurred, trying to figure out what was wrong with him. He was crying over a wand, for crying out loud. _Not just any wand_, said a voice in his mind. _Lily's wand… _

The only thing James had that belonged to his wife was her wedding and engagement rings – the Ministry had given them to him after the funeral. He wore her small wedding band on a chain around his neck, and her engagement ring was on the bedside table in his room at Remus' cottage. He didn't know what he would do with it – maybe he'd give it to Harry when he was older to give to whatever girl he decided to marry.

James smiled slightly at the memory of the night he proposed to Lily. He'd planned the night perfectly, and when the time came, he totally screwed it up. Of course, his nervous blunders had still resulted in the answer he'd wanted from Lily, and that's all that mattered.

But he'd wanted it to be the most romantic night of her life: A candlelight dinner at the cabin his parents owned on the beach, wine, dancing, all of it. Then over dessert, he was going to ask her. Most of the night went to plan – they got to the cabin at the very least. Dinner ended up burnt – James always knew he was hopeless at cooking, but he thought he could manage for just one night. Instead of steak, they had peanut butter sandwiches. He found out the hard way that wine clashed horribly with white shirts – his hands had been shaking so badly when he poured the drinks that he spilled it down his front. Lily was a good sport through it all; she made James take off his shirt so she could clean it with her wand. James said he could do it, but instead of a cleaning charm, he muttered a heating charm, and the heat was so hot, it burned a hole through his shirt.

Feeling completely depressed, James offered just to take Lily home and they could go out another night, but she declined. A few little problems weren't going to ruin her fun, and, she'd admitted with twitching lips, she hadn't had so much fun watching James mess things up for a long time. This comment resulted in James shooting water at her with his wand, soaking her and her dress. She chased him out of the cabin and down the beach where James tripped over his shoelace and fell into the sand, laughing. Lily collapsed beside him and kissed him as punishment for getting her wet. It was the best punishment he'd ever received…

Finally, he'd asked her, and she was completely shocked. She hadn't expected him to propose – sure, they'd discussed it, but they'd planned on waiting at least a year until after they graduated. At this time, they'd only been out of Hogwarts for a month and a half. He'd told her he couldn't wait any longer, that he had to have her as his wife now. And she said yes. They'd started to celebrate, but three cheering voices came from the backdoor of the cabin, and the couple turned to see the Marauders running to them. Apparently, they'd been under the Invisibility Cloak the entire night, hiding in a corner of the living room. Lily'd raised an eyebrow at James and asked him if he could go anywhere alone before standing up from the sand and leading all four Marauders back into the cabin. She and Remus made them all dinner and they celebrated the engagement well into the night.

James shook his head, thinking that his best friends had been with him through everything. This led to thoughts about Peter and his betrayal. How long had he been spying? And what would make him join the Dark Side? That was the question that bothered James most – Peter was afraid of his shoes, because they were dark on the inside. Just the mere mention of Lord Voldemort had Peter wetting himself, and yet he'd been reporting to the Dark Lord for months, at least.

And Peter was in Godric's Hollow at the same time as Voldemort the night Lily was killed. Had Peter led the Dark Lord there? How long had he known that Voldemort was going to go after her? The thing that hurt James the most was that he trusted Peter. Peter was one of his best friends since he was eleven. James was sorry that the explosion of the house killed Peter only because he wanted to be the one to kill the traitor. None of them had ever known what Peter was up to, which was odd; Peter could barely keep a secret when it came to a prank, but he'd kept this from his friends.

James was starting to feel slightly ill thinking about what Peter had done. He pushed himself from the floor and started to leave his home when he happened to glance down by the fireplace. There, just sticking out from the rubble, was the tip of something sticking out. James bent down and wrapped a hand around the stick, pulling it from the mess. It was Lily's wand, a little nicked and scratched, but in one piece. He bit his lip hard to keep from crying, but it was no use. He stumbled back to the sofa and collapsed, holding the willow wand close to his chest as he doubled over, letting all his tears fall.

He didn't know how long he sat there, but when the tears stopped, he stood, preparing to Apparate back to the cottage. Before he left, he took one more look around his home. He thought about rebuilding it at some point, but it'd never be the same without his Lily. With a small _pop_, James was back at the cottage, in the living room. He turned from the fireplace to find Sirius asleep on the sofa. In his arms was a small blanket that Harry never slept without.

James raised an eyebrow. If Sirius was here, where was Harry? "Sirius," he said loudly enough to jolt his best friend from his nap. Sirius blinked a few times, trying to get James into focus. "Where's my son?" James asked.

Sirius frowned and looked down at his arms. James saw him pale before he looked back up with wide eyes. "He was right here…"

"You lost my son?" James asked, his voice deathly quiet. "How could you lose him? He's a year old!"

"James, I swear, he was here when I went to sleep…"

James wasn't listening. He ran through the house, calling for his son, searching all the bedrooms, under the beds, in the laundry hampers and the kitchen cabinets. He checked the basement and the backyard. Harry wasn't there. He walked back into the living room where Sirius was now sitting up looking terrified at the look on James' face. "Where is he, Sirius?"

"I don't know…" Sirius said, standing. "I… He was here-"

"You bloody idiot!" James yelled. "I ask you to do one God damn thing!" Before he knew what he was doing, James had crossed the room and wrapped his hands around Sirius' throat. Sirius' eyes widened as he fought to get out of the death grip James had on him. He was sputtering, turning red, near passing out…

"JAMES!" A very familiar, and very welcome voice called. "What the hell are you doing?"

"He lost Harry," James growled, increasing his grip on Sirius.

"What?" Remus said incredulously. "James, let him go! Harry's right here!"

Slowly, James loosened his hands around Sirius' neck and he turned, finding Remus staring at him in horror. Harry was in his arms sucking a lollipop, completely oblivious to what was happening. Sirius fell, gasping for air, to the sofa as James crossed to Remus in a two long strides, and took Harry from the other wizard's arms. Without a backwards glance, James went down the hall to his bedroom, closing the door quietly behind him.

Remus went to Sirius, making sure he was okay. "What was that all about?"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't know," he said hoarsely, rubbing his throat. "He's lost his bloody mind…"

* * *

**AN: **You guys have no idea how sorry I am for not updating this for two months. I could give you a million excuses, but none of them are good enough. Thanks for everyone who basically guilt-tripped me into doing this. Again, I'm so sorry. Will you ever forgive me?  
Please review and let me know what you thought of the chapter. I promise it won't be two more months between updates. Now that I've gotten past this chapter, I should be able to get through the rest of the story fairly easily... 


	8. Late Nights

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Eight_

_James walked into his dark home in Godric's Hollow, finding it quiet and seemingly abandoned. The house looked normal enough; it wasn't the same wreckage he'd seen when he'd gone to visit it earlier that day. The photos were in their frames where they were supposed to be. Harry's toys were scattered around the living room floor. A few dishes were in the sink, waiting to be washed. The house had the same peaceful feeling James remembered. He went up the stairs and down the hall to where his and Lily's bedroom was, knowing before he even opened the door that he was having the same dream he'd been having for the past month, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. _

_In the bedroom, Lily was laying out on the bed, a lamp on the bedside table giving her reading light for the book in her hands. She looked up and smiled when James entered, paying no mind to the fearful expression on his face. "Hello, darling," she said, closing her book. "How was work?"_

"_Fine," James said automatically, just as he had every other time. "How was your day?"_

"_Wonderful," his wife responded. "Harry's teething still; he's got one poking through his top gum. Poor baby, he's miserable. I went out and bought him a teething ring, though, and he seems to be enjoying that."_

_James nodded. "Razor sharp teeth tearing through your gum line isn't exactly the best feeling in the world," he heard himself say, moving forward unwillingly. _

"_I'll tell you what is," Lily said with an impish smile, taking James by the wrist and pulling him to her._

_James lay on the bed beside Lily and she immediately attached her lips to his, and he unwittingly gave in to the kiss. This was the best part of the dream; after this, everything went to hell. Lily moved her hand inside James' shirt, caressing his chest, and he pulled her on top of him. He reached over to turn off the light, opening his eyes just a crack, and tried to scream. The sound was muffled by the kiss. Lily pulled back a little, looking at him in confusion._

"_What is it, James?" she asked._

_James watched in horror as Lily's porcelain face turned green and started to decay. Wiping at his lips furiously, he tried to push her away, but she kept him pinned. Finally, he managed to push her away with so much force that she fell off the bed. He immediately jumped up and ran to the door. But like every other time, it was locked. He began to whimper, wanting desperately for the nightmare to end. Reluctantly, he looked over his shoulder. Lily was pulling herself up on the bed, her hand little more than loose flesh and pearly white bone. _

"_Where are you going, James?" she asked. "I thought you wanted us to have more children… We can't very well do that when you're all the way over there, can we?"_

_James shook his head. "No… No, you're not Lily," he muttered over and over again. "This is a nightmare–"_

"_Why weren't you there to save me, James?" Lily asked, standing straight now and making her way towards him. "I begged you to come home that day, but you insisted you had to go to Hogwarts. Was it really so important that you had to see Dumbledore that day? I might still be alive today if you hadn't left me. We'd still be a family, and Harry would still have his mother. You said you loved me. You made me believe you. You just didn't love me enough to save me, is that it?"_

"_NO!" James screamed. "I do love you! If I'd known… If I'd just… Oh God, Lily, I'm so sorry! Please… please forgive me!"_

"_You weren't there when I needed you most, James. You promised you'd protect me, and you failed. How could you, James?"_

_James collapsed to the floor and pulled his knees pulled to his chest, burying his head in his folded arms. He rocked back and forth, sobbing, as Lily's chilled voice continued bombard him with cutting accusations. He felt something cold touch his face and snapped his head up. Lily was there, smiling at him, but it wasn't the smile he'd fallen in love with; her teeth were rotting from her mouth and her tongue was that of a snake's, all black and pointy at the end. _

"_JAMES!"_

* * *

The atmosphere in the cottage remained tense for the rest of the day. James had taken Harry and disappeared into his bedroom, locking the door behind him, leaving Sirius and Remus sitting at the kitchen table trying to figure out what to do next. James had been making a bit of progress over the past month; he'd been talking occasionally, and even eating from time to time. But after today, they would probably be lucky to get two words out of him. Sirius was convinced James had gone mad, and Remus kept reminding him that the man's wife had just died, and his son was the only link to her he had left – if James lost Harry, his life would be over. The bruises James' hands had left all around Sirius' neck had turned purple and yellow before Sirius had vanished them. But even though the bruises were gone, Sirius still touched his neck occasionally, as though they were still there, and would not go away.

"This is your fault," Sirius murmured to Remus without any real conviction.

Remus looked at him. "And how exactly did you come to that conclusion?" he asked flatly.

"You could have woken me up before you took Harry, or at least left a note or something…"

Remus rolled his eyes and turned towards the refrigerator. He summoned a small piece of parchment with his wand and handed the parchment to Sirius, who read aloud. "Sirius, I'm taking Harry to Hogwarts with me. We'll be back soon. Remus." Slowly, Sirius lowered the parchment and looked at his friend. "Oh. Sorry."

Remus shrugged. "Not your fault. I suppose I could have left it somewhere you would have found it easily. But I figured you and the fridge are good friends, and you wouldn't miss something stuck to it…"

Neither of them laughed.

"So what do we do about James?" Sirius asked quietly.

"I don't know." Remus sighed. "If he doesn't get out of this depression of his soon, it's only going to get worse–"

"Worse?" Sirius asked incredulously. "He's already tried to kill me; how much worse do you think it can get?"

"Sirius, he was scared. He thought something had happened to Harry on your watch, and he hasn't exactly been emotionally balanced for the past while."

Sirius shook his head. "I know, I… I just hate seeing him like this. You know, he hasn't smiled at all since it happened, and I've never seen him go more than a day without smiling. Even after his parents died, he still managed to smile…"

"I don't like seeing him like this either, but he'll be fine with time," Remus said patiently. "He needs to believe that nothing else is going to happen, and that Harry's not going to disappear when he turns his back."

"But how do you know nothing else is going to happen?" Sirius asked.

Remus sighed. "We can't let anything else happen," he said quietly. "You and I have to make sure James and Harry are as safe as they can be. We're still the Marauders, and we will still stand by one another, just like we always have."

For a moment, Sirius watched Remus stare at the kitchen table. "Remus, I never really apologized for what I said to you in the hospital wing that night..." Remus started to open his mouth, but Sirius cut him off. "No, I owe you a real apology, and an explanation. When Dumbledore first told James and me that there was a spy in the Order, and that it was someone close to us, I immediately thought you, because of the whole werewolf-recruiting thing. I didn't stop to think 'Remus would never do that to us'. I should have. I tried to tell James that you were the spy, and I'm pretty sure he was going to hit me, you know, before he passed out… I would have deserved it. Anyway… I know you'd never do anything to hurt us, Remus, and I'm sorry for accusing you of…you know…Lily."

"Why would you ever think that, Sirius?" Remus asked, his voice tight with emotion. "I've never given any of you a reason to suspect I would ever betray you…"

"I know," Sirius said with a sigh. "I don't know. War can do horrible things to friendships, and with Voldemort using Imperius on most of his followers, I just didn't know who I could trust anymore. And then when Dumbledore started talking about the werewolves joining him, I started to wonder what it would take for him to get you on his side. Then you started taking off for weeks at a time… I know now that you were on missions for Dumbledore… but it just added to my suspicions."

"I would never join Voldemort, no matter what he offered me," Remus said quietly. "My friends are all I have left in this world, and I would never do anything to jeopardize that. You, James, Peter, Lily, and Harry were my family, and I would have done whatever it took to keep you safe."

Sirius nodded. "I know, and I'm sorry."

"It's all right," Remus said. "If it makes you feel any better, I thought you had joined Voldemort…"

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. Well, I heard a few things that I thought gave me all the evidence I needed, but when I told Dumbledore about it, he told me I was wrong. This was before I knew Regulus was a Death Eater, and I figured the Death Eaters I'd overheard were talking about you when they referred to a 'Black'."

"Oh," was all Sirius could say. He'd known for a few years that his younger brother was one of Voldemort's followers. Regulus had actually had the audacity to come to Sirius and try and persuade him to join the Dark Lord's ranks. After Sirius punched him in the eye, though, he'd never come back. Sirius had learned of his brother's death secondhand – an Auror had found Regulus' body in a river only months before Harry was born. They suspected Voldemort had had the younger Black killed, but no one was sure why, and Sirius hadn't cared enough to investigate the matter.

"Why do you think Peter joined him?" Remus asked, startling Sirius from his thoughts. "He was a coward most of the time, unless we were around to help him out of a tight spot. Just the thought of Death Eaters made him wet himself… How could he have the courage to face Voldemort?"

"I have no idea," Sirius said, biting back a growl. "I just can't believe he hid it from us as long as he did. Remember the night the Prewetts were killed, and how he was fighting along with the rest of us? I wonder how long he'd been lying to us and acting as our friend."

"Well, Dumbledore says the spy was reporting to Voldemort for a year at least, so I suspect that's how long this has been going on. But I agree with you; Peter couldn't keep a secret if you paid him, and yet he managed to keep this from us. How could we not know?"

Sirius laughed darkly. "Come now, Remus, he's Peter bloody Pettigrew. Like you said, he was a coward. Why should we have suspected he would betray us? We should have known… He always needed us to protect him, yet I'd noticed a few weeks ago that he'd been acting a whole lot more sure of himself. And now I know why… It was because he had _Voldemort's_ protection – he didn't need us anymore. He got the biggest bully on the playground to fight his battles."

"I still don't understand _why_ he did it, though," Remus said. "He had us, he had Dumbledore. Everyone knows the only wizard Voldemort ever feared was Dumbledore…"

"Maybe they threatened him," Sirius suggested. "Everyone also knows that Peter, you, and I were the closest things James had to family after his parents died, and Voldemort wanted a spy. He probably knew how weak Peter was, and it never took much to convince him to do something…"

"But why wouldn't he have come to us if the Death Eaters were threatening him?"

"They probably told him that if he told anyone they'd kill him. I don't know, Remus. What's it matter? He was the traitor, and now he's dead. End of story."

Remus nodded, but he wasn't convinced. While it was true that Peter was something of a wimp, the Marauders had loved him like a brother, just as they did each other. After they'd graduated from Hogwarts, they'd mostly gone their own way – James and Sirius became Aurors, Peter got a job at Flourish and Blotts, and Remus was left to find whatever job wouldn't sack him after finding out about his condition. But they still came together to be the boys they'd been in school. Could there have been a chance to save Peter from his fate if they'd known? Peter could have gone into hiding under the Order's protection if he would have just told them what was happening.

Long after Sirius said he was turning in for the night, Remus sat at his kitchen table, wondering what it was that had turned Peter to the Dark Lord. And when he finally went to his own bedroom for the night, he dreamt about what seemed to be a past life now, when the Marauders were carefree boys, and happy, and mostly oblivious to the outside world.

* * *

James jerked up in his bed, all too aware of the warm tears mingling with cold sweat on his face. He looked around wildly for a moment, finally realizing that Lily was nowhere to be seen. Somehow, this only made him feel worse. Remus and Sirius were standing on either side of his bed, Harry was crying somewhere in the background.

"James…" Remus said quietly, gripping James' shoulder firmly. "It's okay…"

James shook his head jerkily. "No, it's not," he muttered. "It's never going to be okay."

"Yes, it will," Sirius said. "It was only a dream, James, that's all…"

Sniffing loudly, James wiped at his face. "It was worse this time. It always gets worse…" he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"It's over now," Remus said quietly but firmly. "Do you want a Dreamless Sleep Potion?"

James shook his head again, firmly this time. "No, I'll be fine…" He ignored the skeptical looks his friends gave each other. Throwing his sweat-drenched covers off of him, he got out of bed and went to Harry's cot, where the child wailed on. He took his son out and held him close. "Shh… It's all right, Harry…" he murmured into the child's hair. "Daddy's here…"

After a few minutes, Harry's cries subsided, and both father and son seemed to have calmed a great deal. Remus dried the blankets and sheets on James' bed with a wave of his wand, and James brought Harry back to the bed where they laid down together. Harry fell asleep moments later, still cuddled to his father's chest.

"James, will you be all right if we go back to bed?" Sirius asked.

James looked up at him. "Yeah, I'll be fine," he said. "Honestly, I'm okay now," he added at the look that Sirius gave him. "Go back to bed. Sorry for waking you…"

"You'll let us know if you need us?" Remus asked.

"Of course," James said, adding to himself that he'd remember to put Silencing charms around his room from now on. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

His friends nodded and left the room. Sirius looked back at him once before closing the door. James sighed heavily, trying not to think of his dream. He took his wand from the bedside table and dimmed the lamp enough to let him get back to sleep, but not enough so that he was in total darkness. He could still see the grotesque images of his nightmares, and Harry's steady breathing against him was the only thing that soothed him. An hour later, he finally got back to sleep.

* * *

Frank and Alice Longbottom were sleeping soundly that night, firm in the knowledge that their son Neville was safe in his cot just down the hall. Dumbledore had warned them that, though Voldemort had fallen, they could still be targeted by angry or desperate Death Eaters. Being Aurors, Frank and Alice were no strangers to Death Eater threats, and they hadn't taken Dumbledore's warning lightly. Their home had been warded and charmed to warn them of any visitor – friendly or otherwise – and they'd placed Disillusionment Charms around Neville's bedroom at night, just in case their precautions were somehow disabled.

Frank had always been a rather light sleeper; his body rested, but his mind was at least partially aware of any and all goings on around him. So when the sound of his front door lock snapping open reached his ears, it didn't take much for him to jolt awake and sit straight up in his bed. His eyes were wide as they adjusted to the darkness of his room, his ears strained to hear the footsteps and whispering voices coming from downstairs.

"Alice," he whispered urgently, shaking his wife awake. "Alice, they're here!"

Alice's eyes snapped open and, sitting up, she looked into the brown ones that belonged to her husband. "Who's here?" she whispered fearfully.

"Death Eaters…"

Frank grabbed his wand off his bedside table and Alice did the same. They preformed Disillusionment charms on one another and got out of bed and wandered carefully into the hallway. Automatically, they looked down the hall to where they knew Neville's room to be, though it couldn't be seen by the naked eye – all they could see was a wall covered with photos. But if someone were to walk straight at the seemingly normal wall, they would be in Neville's nursery. So Frank and Alice's mission was to make sure nobody realized that wall wasn't what it seemed to be.

The two Aurors silently made their way to the top of the stairs, where they could hear footsteps climbing, coming closer. One of the middle stairs creaked, and the footsteps stopped for a moment, the intruders listening to see if their cover had been blown. When they were confident that they were still safe, they continued upwards. The Longbottoms pointed their wands at the staircase, keeping themselves far enough in the shadows that they wouldn't be seen. As a tall figure in a black cloak made it to the top of the stairs, a red jet of light shot out of one of the Auror's wands, followed quickly by a blue jet - a silencing charm, to be sure none of the others Death Eaters heard their companion fall.

Alice bound the first intruder and pocketed his wand. Frank whispered for her to follow him down the stairs. They avoided the creaking one, and made it to the front hallway without a sound. Two more Death Eaters could be seen rummaging around in Frank's study, and one more was in the kitchen. Frank tried not to let his heartbeat increase – he had to remain calm, this was just like any mission for the Ministry or for the Order. In a voice only she could hear, Frank told Alice to take the one in the kitchen, and he went to the door of his study. The two cloaked figures were digging through his desk, tossing parchments to the floor. They were searching for something. What it was they were searching for wasn't important – Mad-Eye Moody's first lesson was always stun first, ask questions later.

Taking a deep breath, Frank waited a few moments so Alice could have a chance to take care of her Death Eater without alerting these two. He'd only have one chance at this, and if one of these Death Eaters found out someone else was in the room, they would turn and start cursing everything in sight.

Frank pointed his wand at the taller of the two – the one who could do more physical damage to him. In very quick succession, he used non-verbal stunning spells on both of them. He moved forward quickly as the Death Eaters hit the desk, and then the floor, to make sure they were both unconscious. He bound them and removed them of their wands, just as Alice had done with the Death Eater upstairs.

"Frank?" he heard his wife call. "Are you all right?"

"Fine," he called back. "You?"

"Yeah, I got him."

Sighing in relief, and maybe a little pride, Frank moved into the hallway, taking off his Disillusionment charm as he went. He met Alice halfway to the kitchen. They embraced for long moments, neither of them saying what they were thinking: what would have happened if they'd been just a second too late?

Alice went back upstairs to retrieve the Death Eater that was too close to her son for her comfort while Frank firecalled the Ministry. Mad-Eye and four other on-call Aurors arrived moments later to take the Death Eaters into Ministry custody.

"What do you think they were here for, Mad-Eye?" Frank asked quietly, watching his wife and son on the sofa after all the Death Eaters had been taken away.

"No telling, Frank," Mad-Eye said. "You say they were going through your desk?"

Frank nodded. "And I've got nothing in there of any real importance… My Gringotts key, a file or two from work, but I can't see why they'd want any of that."

"Well, you heard what Dumbledore said. They're after James Potter's boy. I'm surprised they came here at all… Potter's been staying with Lupin of late."

"He's safe there," Frank said. "Sirius is there, and he's one of the best Aurors there is. And Remus is a hell of a wizard himself. They won't let any harm come to James or the baby."

"Let's hope you're right, Frank," Mad-Eye growled before leaving for the Ministry again.

Frank eventually convinced Alice that it was time to get Neville back to bed. They could figure out what happened to their wards in the morning. As they walked up the stairs, neither of them noticed the rat hiding in a corner of Frank Longbottom's study.

* * *

**AN: **So that was by far my favorite chapter of this story yet. What are your thoughts? And there's no need to yell at me for the lasteness of the chapter. I said within the week, and it's still the week. So ha. (I love technicalities.)I've been playing the GoF videogame for the past eight hours, so my brain is fried, and I can't remember what else I was going to say. Altercations update coming soon to a computer screen near you!  
Until next time! 


	9. Halloween and Full Moon

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Nine_

The weeks had dragged by, and Halloween was upon them. But this year, the spirit of the day was lost on the Marauders. Sirius had gone to Diagon Alley and to Hogsmeade to buy two cauldrons full of sweets for the friends to eat – tradition told them that they had to try and rot their teeth out on Halloween – and most of it still sat on the kitchen counter of the cottage. Remus hadn't been feeling well for a few days – the full moon was quickly approaching (it was only three days away), and just the thought of so much sugar nearly made him gag. James had halfheartedly picked through a box of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans with Harry in his lap, who'd been giggling at a few Chocolate Frog cards Sirius had given him. Not even the thought of legendary pranks of Halloweens past could get him excited for the day.

Much to the relief of his best friends, James had agreed to take Dreamless Sleep potions whenever he woke from one of his nightmares. To James' own relief, it was becoming less often that he was forced to witness his beloved Lily's face melting away into a decaying corpse. He'd been in slightly better spirits over it, and had shocked Sirius one morning by "accidentally" loosening the cap on the salt shaker – once Sirius had managed to control the amount of cursing spilling out of his mouth over all the salt on his eggs, he'd seen a slight glint in James' eyes that had reminded him that his best friend did still exist (somewhere in there), and gave him hope that eventually he'd return full time.

The news the Longbottoms and their Death Eater infiltration had reached the ears of the three friends the morning after the incident. Sirius had personally gone to the couple's house to congratulate them on apprehending his cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband, and their cohorts. The only thing Sirius had been upset about, besides the fact that the Longbottoms' home had been invaded, was that he hadn't been the one to capture the Death Eaters.

He had, however, gone to their trial before the Wizengamot. He couldn't understand why they'd been given a trial – in the past, the only way to deal with Death Eaters caught in the act was to chuck them straight into Azkaban – but Barty Crouch Junior, son of the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Bartemius Crouch, had been among the captured. And old Barty had wanted to prove to the world that no Death Eater, his own son or no, would escape justice. Soon after, Crouch stepped down from his position in the DMLE and moved to the Department of Magical Foreign Relations.

"Good riddance," Sirius had said when he'd heard the news. He and Barty Crouch had never quite seen eye-to-eye.

The only other news within the cottage worthy of any note was Harry gaining a few teeth, which he'd promptly stuck into his godfather's hand when the wizard had tried to stop him from crying by wriggling his fingers in front of the child's mouth.

"Serves you right," Remus laughed, watching Sirius' face turn brick red as he tried not to swear from the pain now throbbing in his fingers. "You know as well as I do that Harry doesn't like to be teased. And I've told you before that he's teething, and that there are two teething rings in the icebox for him to chew on." Sirius' only reply was to stick up one of his injured fingers. But Remus only laughed harder at the rude gesture – he could still make out tiny indents on the finger.

* * *

On Halloween night, Remus and Sirius somehow managed to talk James into joining them for a scary movie marathon – a tradition Lily had instilled upon them after their graduation from Hogwarts. Harry was asleep in his father's lap on the sofa, while Sirius lounged comfortably in an armchair, and Remus lay on the floor in front of the fire. Halfway through the werewolf movie Sirius had absolutely insisted on watching (much to Remus' chagrin) the doorbell rang. The three friends looked at each other with raised eyebrows – rarely did anyone come to Remus' home for a visit.

Sirius was the first to speak. "Who d'you reckon that is?" he asked, reaching for his wand on the end table beside him.

"Don't know," Remus said hoarsely. He cleared his throat. "People normally owl before coming all the way out here."

"Well, are we just going to sit here talking about it, or are we going to see who it is?" James asked, standing with Harry in his left arm, his wand grasped tightly in his right hand.

Remus and Sirius stood as well. "You two are the Aurors; I'll take Harry while you go check," the werewolf said. James nodded and handed over his sleeping son before following Sirius to the front hall.

With two wands pointed at the door, Sirius called, "Who's there?"

"Dorcas and Emmeline," called the muffled voice of Dorcas Meadowes. Sirius and James looked at each other with raised eyebrows again. A smile formed on Sirius' face as he mouthed '_women_' excitedly. James actually chuckled, causing Sirius' smile to grow as he undid the locks on the door and opened it.

"Good evening, ladies. Happy Halloween," he said smiling charmingly. "We weren't expecting company…"

The two witches smiled and entered the cottage. "Well, we thought we'd drop by and say hi, since we haven't seen you four in a while," Emmeline said, hugging James hello. "Hope you don't mind…"

"No, not at all," Sirius said. "We were just watching a few movies. Would either of you like a drink?"

James led them back to the living room, where Remus had been watching the exchange with a small smile, and sat down on the sofa again, taking Harry in his arms. "Grab me a Butterbeer, Padfoot," he said.

"I'll help," Dorcas said quickly. Remus caught Emmeline's eye roll as she sat beside James.

"So how are things going out here?" she asked, flattening Harry's hair.

"Not too horribly," Remus said, taking Sirius' armchair. "Did you hear about Frank and Alice?"

Emmeline nodded. "I had lunch with Alice and Neville the other day, actually. She was still a bit shaken up that Death Eaters had been in their home, but they're all fine, thank God."

Remus noticed James tense at the casual remark from the witch and realized immediately why – Death Eaters had been in the Longbottom home, but Lord Voldemort had been in his, and nothing had turned out fine. Emmeline seemed to notice James' change in behavior, because she quickly changed the subject to Harry. "He's got a few new teeth, I see," she said, sending Remus an apologetic glance over James' head.

"Yeah," Remus said. "He took a few chunks out of Sirius' finger with them the other day…"

Some fifteen minutes later, far too long for them to have just gotten drinks, Sirius and Dorcas returned to the living room and passed around the bottles of Butterbeer to the others. "What are you guys watching?" Dorcas asked, a touch of color in her cheeks.

Remus resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow at Sirius. "Some old werewolf film," he answered. The witches looked at him oddly – both knew about his condition. "I had no choice in the matter, I assure you," he said flatly. "I would have preferred zombies."

"Zombies are overrated," James muttered. "Werewolves are a much more interesting viewing choice."

"And you're a git," Remus said to him with a smile, inwardly relieved he hadn't retreated back to his bedroom yet.

James shrugged and sat back into the sofa, allowing Emmeline to take Harry from him. "Start the movie, Padfoot," he said.

Sirius saluted him. "Yes, sir."

James threw a pillow at him.

* * *

Just past midnight, Emmeline and Dorcas stood to leave. James had fallen asleep with Harry on the sofa, so Sirius and Remus showed them out the front door.

"How's he doing, honestly?" Dorcas asked concernedly.

Remus closed the door while Sirius answered, "He's improving, I think. He's not having those nightmares anymore – not as far as we know – and he's been making more of an effort to spend time outside that cave he calls a bedroom."

"Didn't you say he _dreamt _of what happened to Lily while he was in the hospital wing?" Emmeline asked. "Any idea how that happened?"

"No idea–" Sirius began.

"I've had a few theories about that," Remus said at the same time.

Sirius turned at him. "Have you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Remus sighed. "Yes, well, he had the Wizard Flu… When a person has the Wizard Flu, they temporarily lose their powers, and their body and mind are in a weakened state. That explains James' collapse after the meeting with Dumbledore, Sirius. But for him to have seen _exactly_ what happened to Lily, some of his powers had to have been compensating for the others he'd lost." The other three waited patiently for him to sort through his thoughts. "The theory I had, and I when I ran it by Dumbledore, he agreed, was that while James was unconscious, his magic allowed his mind to travel. It's rare, but it does happen," he added at the looks on their faces. "And since James' mind is usually on Lily and Harry, his mind took him back home like he was in a Pensieve, and let him see what was happening."

"Well," Dorcas said, both of her eyebrows raised, "was James actually seeing what happening, or was it coincidence that he dreamed what he did? I mean, none of us, except Harry, were there that night; could he have just had a really bad nightmare, and it just turned out to be coincidence that it really happened?"

Sirius looked at her. "How often do you hear about _that_?"

"She's got a point," Emmeline said. "None of us really know what happened to Lily, unless you want to extract the memory from Harry's mind – I'm not suggesting that you should!" she added hastily when Sirius opened his mouth angrily. "I'm only saying that James probably doesn't fancy talking about the dream. And it's nearly impossible to prove it was a vision or something if no one else has seen it."

"But it happened," Sirius argued. "James told us about the dream. Only once, mind, but I'm not keen on hearing it more than that, anyway. He said Lily and Harry were both sitting on the sofa when Voldemort came in. That's where Hagrid found them when he went there. Lily's wand was nowhere near her, Hagrid looked. James said that in the dream, her wand was on the coffee table – he went back to the house and found it under some debris… coffee table debris. So if what James saw was just some nightmare, then it was the most precise nightmare I've ever heard of a person having."

"Look, I'm not disagreeing with either of you," Dorcas said. "I'm just trying to get the facts straight."

Remus sighed. "Why are we arguing about this? First of all, James is just inside– he could hear everything we say if he tried. Second, you asked what I found out, Dorcas, and that was what I've come up with. I didn't say it was solid fact."

Dorcas nodded. "Sorry," she murmured.

"Don't worry about it," he said, attempting a small smile.

"We should be getting home," Emmeline said quietly. "You three let us know if you need anything, got it?"

The two wizards nodded and thanked them for coming by, telling them they were welcome any time. Remus led the way inside and locked the door again while Sirius went in to wake James and send him to bed. Silently, they cleaned up the living room, getting rid of Butterbeer bottles and candy wrappers.

"How come you didn't tell me about your theory before?" Sirius asked quietly, unable to keep the slightly childish whine out of his tone.

Remus shrugged. "I was still researching, and I didn't want to mention anything until I had something worth sharing."

"Oh," Sirius said. A few moments later, he said, "Nice of the girls to stop by, wasn't it?"

Remus nodded. "It was," he agreed. "I'm surprised they haven't been by more often, to see Harry at the very least."

"Dorcas said they wanted to wait a bit in order to give James some time to get used to not having Lily around," Sirius explained quietly. "I mean, they were Lily's best friends, so it wasn't like we saw them without her…"

Again, Remus nodded. "So you and Dorcas were talking about James that whole fifteen minutes that you were in the kitchen?"

Sirius grinned a bit. "Well, not the _whole_ time, but you probably don't want to know what we did the rest of the time."

Remus shook his head. "Right," he said slowly. "Well, now that everything has been cleaned up, I'm going to bed; I'm completely exhausted. Goodnight, Sirius."

"Night," Sirius said as Remus went down the hall.

* * *

On the afternoon of the full moon, Remus was still in his bed, dead asleep. This wasn't unheard – at Hogwarts, Remus would always spend the day of his transformation in the hospital wing.

Sirius had gone in around lunchtime to bring Remus a plate with a sandwich and some crisps, and forced his friend to eat. Dumbledore had offered to let Remus use the Shrieking Shack that night, and Remus had accepted immediately. For the last three months, he'd remained in his cottage, in the basement, with very strong protection charms, soundproofing wards, and locking spells around the door and surrounding walls. Remus had been quite worried about transforming with Harry in the house, and told Sirius the morning after the last full moon that it would never happen again. It would be worth it to spend a night in the place that held horrible memories for him if it guaranteed Harry would be safe. Sirius had offered to go to Hogwarts with him, but someone needed to stay with James and Harry, just in case.

When the time came for Remus to leave for the night, James and Sirius helped him to get out of bed and get dressed before leading him to the fireplace where he would Floo to Dumbledore's office.

"You're sure you're going to be all right?" James asked. It seemed that his worry for his friend's health outweighed depression he'd felt for the last few months.

Remus leaned against the mantle, looking a little green in the face, and nodded. "I'll be fine," he said hoarsely. "This won't be any different than all those times you two managed to get detention the night of the full moon, and I had to spend the night alone."

"You know, maybe I should go," Sirius said, remembering how Remus had looked after those full moon nights.

"No," Remus said as firmly as he could manage. "Stay with Harry and James. Just don't blow up my home."

Sirius looked disappointed. "Oh, but I really wanted to! I learned this new spell…"

"Sirius, shut up," Remus said, grinning a little. "I'll see you three tomorrow afternoon."

His two friends nodded and backed away so he could enter the fireplace. "Hogwarts, Headmaster's office," Remus said, tossing a pinch of Floo powder at his feet.

Sirius waited for him to disappear into the green flames before turning to James. "What do you think the chances are of him throwing up all over Dumbledore's office?"

"Pretty damn good," James said. "I was waiting for him to do it here…"

"You think he'll be all right?"

James shrugged. "Don't know. But Remus is stubborn; he wasn't going to let you go with him, no matter how much you begged."

"I still think I should go… What if something happens?"

"What could happen at Hogwarts?"

* * *

Remus waved to Dumbledore through the tree limbs of the Whomping Willow before turning and limping his way down the tunnel towards the Shrieking Shack. The headmaster had insisted on walking him to the tree before his transformation, and Remus couldn't bring himself to argue with the older wizard. Not that he really would argue with Dumbledore; nobody argued with Dumbledore and won.

The tunnel became narrower, and just ahead, Remus could see the gap that would take him into the Shrieking Shack. As he made his way up the stairs to the room he used on full moon nights, he wondered vaguely if the villagers in Hogsmeade still believed the place was haunted. If they didn't, or had begun to doubt it, he'd be sure to fix that tonight. Remus looked around the dank, dusty room and went to sit on one of the broken chairs. Taking his wand out of his pocket, he conjured a few blankets to make a small bed on the floor for him to curl up on while he was transformed. There was a bed in the room, but it was lumpy and in a few spots, the springs were poking through the mattress, making it quite uncomfortable, and he didn't feel like repairing it tonight.

Through the boarded-up windows, he could see that the sun was starting to set, and guessed he had about twenty minutes until moonrise. He used that time to take off his clothes, wrap his wand up in his shirt, and place the bundle in a closet in the room – he'd had many experiences where he would attempt to rip apart his clothes in his transformed state, and he was sure Sirius' wand still had a few claw marks from where Remus had gotten a hold of it in seventh year.

Groaning from the stiffness in his muscles, Remus lowered himself to the floor and covered himself from the waist down with one of the blankets. Somewhere in the house, he could hear mice scurrying through the walls and wondered if they would be scared off by his howls. Scents suddenly filled his nostrils as his senses intensified – dried blood, mold, and four-year-old scents of James, Sirius, and Peter that were still in the chairs and in the halls. He thought he heard a board or two creak but before he could think of anything, he felt his entire body tense as the transformation began.

After nearly ten minutes of excruciating pain, when his bones shifted, elongated, and changed, a brown werewolf with streaks of light gray throughout its fur lay panting on the floor. Moony lay there for what felt like hours, unable to conjure the strength to even stand or roll onto his side. The werewolf was waiting for his friends, as he did every full moon, knowing deep down that one would never come again and the other two were safe, hundreds of miles away.

* * *

James and Sirius set up the chessboard on the kitchen table while Harry sat on the floor playing with some toy cars. The two wizards glanced at the clock regularly, wondering how Remus was fairing without them and if they should just take Harry to Hogwarts, leave him with Dumbledore, and join Remus anyway. There'd only been a few full moons when the Marauders had left the werewolf alone, and none of those instances had resulted in Remus leaving the hospital wing in any less than three full days.

"I was thinking about going back to the Ministry in the New Year," James said quietly, looking at the chessboard as he contemplated his next move.

Sirius stared at him. "Really?"

James nodded and looked up. "I can't sit around here for the rest of my life. She wouldn't want that for me…"

"No, she wouldn't," Sirius said softly. "Well, I'm sure Mad-Eye will be thrilled to have you back. It's been a bit boring around there, he says. No one's booby-trapping his office, he doesn't know what to do with himself."

James smiled a little. "I thought, if he's up to it, Remus could watch Harry during the day."

"I doubt he'll argue with that."

"Then maybe early summer Harry and I can go out and find our own place."

Sirius blinked. "Why would you do that?"

James raised an eyebrow. "We can't live here for the rest of our lives, Sirius. As much as I appreciate Remus letting us stay here, I can't just live off of him. He doesn't have much to begin with. And I'm sure you're dying to get back to your flat."

Sirius shrugged. "I've actually enjoyed being around you and Remus all the time… It's felt like we're back in Hogwarts or something." He sighed. "But you're right. And you can be the one to tell Remus you're thinking about leaving…"

James rolled his eyes. "Grow up, Padfoot," he muttered, smiling again.

"Oh, I meant to mention this to you and Moony the other day, but I read in the paper that Mrs. Pettigrew died last week," Sirius said.

"What?" James said. "How?"

"Heart attack was the cause of death, or so the _Prophet_ says. But I'll bet you anything it was heart break," Sirius said. "She may have been tough, but that woman loved her son…"

"Yeah… Woman wanted nothing to do with the dark side… You remember Frank Longbottom's mum? That's who Wormtail's mum reminds me of."

"But there is a lot more for Mrs. Longbottom to be proud of than there was for Wormtail's mother," Sirius said. "Even before all this happened, he never really amounted to anything, did he?"

James shrugged. "We trusted him," he said quietly. "We let him into our homes and our hearts, and never thought twice about it. We know what he is now, but you have to admit he had his moments where he was decent."

"I guess."

"Doesn't matter anymore, I suppose." James sighed heavily. "You know, Harry never liked him. Every time Wormtail would try and pick him up, he cried, and he wouldn't stop until one of us took him."

Sirius nodded. "I know. I just thought it was because Wormtail smelled, but it seems your kid is a better judge of people than the rest of us, eh?"

James turned his head to watch Harry laugh and run two of his cars into each other. "Yeah…"

* * *

Moony growled deep in his throat. He'd just caught the whiff of something very familiar, but couldn't understand how he was smelling it – wasn't it impossible? The werewolf narrowed his eyes at the bottom of the door as he spotted a small, shadowy figure scurry past. Though there were probably many more plausible explanations for this than the one he had in his canine mind, Moony didn't care. He knew the scent. He knew what the scent's owner had done – or at least that the scent's owner was no longer a friend.

He hesitated only a moment before charging at the door. There was a loud squeak and the tiny footsteps on the other side took off again. Moony began to scratch and bite at the door, trying desperately to break it down. The scent began to fade away after a few minutes, and then it was gone completely. Moony began to growl and snarl at the door. He'd lost his prey. The only way to make up for it was to make his human counterpart suffer.

* * *

The next morning, Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey found Remus lying in a pool of blood. He was rushed to the hospital wing and immediately treated for his injuries. The moment the school nurse finished wrapping him in bandages, the large, oak hospital wing doors burst open, and Sirius and James rushed in.

Remus' eyes were opened a sliver and he attempted several times to open and close his mouth, trying to speak. James, handing Harry to Sirius, helped him take a few sips of water, and Remus was able to choke out one very hoarse word before passing out from exhaustion.

"Wormtail."

* * *

**AN: **I know what you guys are probably thinking, but this isn't going to be like Truths. There are explanations for all of this - I've just got to make myself sit down and write it. Now that I've got this one done, I work on that other story that some of you (coughAnnecough) have been dying for me to update. I'm hoping I'll have it done tomorrow or Friday; we'll see... So. Until next time! 


	10. Hallucinations

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Ten_

Sirius and James stared at him with wide eyes, their mouths slightly open as Remus slipped back into unconsciousness. They couldn't have heard what they thought they had. Remus had to have been hallucinating, probably from his injuries from the night before. There was no other explanation for it. Peter Pettigrew was dead…

"But how often is Remus wrong about anything?" James said quietly as he sat with Harry in his arms. "And it's not like he doesn't know our scents like the back of his hand."

For a second, Sirius considered asking how a person could know a scent like a hand, but resisted. "Maybe he just had a dream or something after he… you know… tore himself up…"

"Well, there's one way to find out," James said. "Remus was in the Shrieking Shack. If someone else was in there, Wormtail or not, we'll find out."

As soon as they could, the two wizards went to Dumbledore and James reluctantly left Harry with the headmaster – he didn't want his son to see the Shrieking Shack, especially not if there was someone still there. They took the familiar path through the Hogwarts corridors out on to the grounds and walked silently to the Whomping Willow. Sirius found a long branch and bent down to hit the knot on the side of the tree's trunk, freezing the branches that were trying to hit them. James went first down through the hole that led to the tunnel, and his best friend followed just behind him.

"_Lumos_," they said in unison, the tips of their wands lighting.

Sirius led the way down the tunnel, ducking and stepping over obstacles in his way. They reached the far end of the tunnel and pulled themselves through, facing the stairwell that led to the second landing of the Shrieking Shack. "Looks the same as it always does, doesn't it?" Sirius said quietly.

James nodded, looking all around them for any signs of someone else having been there in the night. All he could see was spots of freshly dried blood that he was sure belonged to Remus. The two Aurors began their search, using their wands to tell them who had been there in the last twenty-four hours, human or animal. They did find traces of rats, but that was all they were – rats.

The pair spent a good three hours searching every corner in every room and every inch of the floorboards before they met at the bottom of the stairs. "Remus was the only one here," James told Sirius quietly. "Poppy was here this morning with Dumbledore, but there was no one else in this place last night."

Sirius nodded. "I didn't find anything, either. And I used that spell Mad-Eye showed us that counters other spells trying to hide tracks of wizards. It just sort of bounced back at me."

James sighed. "So either Moony's lost his mind, or he just bled so much that his mind was playing tricks on him."

"I'll go with the latter. I'd rather not think my best friend has lost his mind."

James snorted, grinning a little. "We all lost our minds the moment we met you, Padfoot."

The other wizard rolled his eyes, his lips twitching. "Can we get out of here now? I don't know about you, but after not having been here for four years, this place has gotten a little creepy."

"What, are you afraid of the big bad ghosts?" James teased as he pulled himself through the hole in the wall leading back to the tunnel. "Don't worry, Padfoot, I'll protect you."

"Sod off, Prongs."

* * *

Remus sat in his hospital bed, staring across the room out a window, brooding. Night had come, and Sirius, James, and Harry had headed back to the cottage for some shuteye. After he'd woken some five hours earlier, Madam Pomfrey had done every diagnostic spell known to wizard-kind on him to make sure he was healthy. When she'd finally been satisfied, she'd retreated to her office, leaving Remus and his friends alone. They told him that they'd gone to the Shrieking Shack, that they'd done every charm they could think of that could reveal that someone else had been in there with him the night before, and had found nothing.

Neither of them had said it aloud, but Remus got the feeling his friends thought he'd gone a bit mental. How else would he have been able to sense the presence of his dead ex-best friend? It was frustrating to think that he knew what he'd seen and heard and smelled, but his friends didn't believe him. Or maybe they just didn't _want _to believe him. If Wormtail was somehow alive, if he'd somehow survived the blast at the Potters' home in Godric's Hollow back in August, it was sure to only bring about more grief and anger and the need for revenge. Remus didn't want to believe that Wormtail had survived. He wanted to put this whole ordeal behind him and go on with life as best as he could. He wanted to see James break out of his depression. He wanted to be normal.

_There is no such thing as a normal Marauder,_ Sirius used to say when Remus confided in his friends about his fears of the outside world's reactions to his being a werewolf. That was what had been great about Sirius and James. They'd never thought of him as a werewolf, as a vicious man-killing beast, but as a friend and brother.

But Sirius and James wouldn't have lied about not finding anything in the Shrieking Shack. Maybe Remus had just been hallucinating. The smells of his friends were all around that old place. Something about last night could have triggered the smell of Wormtail and made Moony think the rat was there somewhere.

_And maybe Kneazles fly…_

Remus did not hallucinate – the first time he'd tried Firewhiskey with his friends in sixth year didn't count. But someone _had_ been in the shack with him the night before. Whether it was Wormtail or not, he wasn't sure, but he definitely had not been alone. This wasn't one of those situations in which Remus wanted to find out he was right and then go rub it in the faces of his friends (not that he would do that anyway); deep down, he hoped he really had been hallucinating, or his mind had been overreacting during his transformation last night.

Remus sighed, looking at the clock over the large oak doors of the hospital wing. It was going on three in the morning, and if he didn't fall asleep soon, it was a sure bet that Madam Pomfrey would peek in on him and force a Sleeping Draught down his throat.

* * *

Over the next few days, after Remus had been released from Madam Pomfrey's care, no one mentioned what Remus thought he'd seen on the full moon. Remus thought James and Sirius were only doing it to save his feelings – or maybe they really did think him mental, and mentioning Wormtail would send him over the edge. But James and Sirius were just as mind-boggled as their friend was. They knew he'd never lie about something like that, and he could very easily tell the difference between his mind playing tricks on him and the real thing. If Remus said Wormtail had been there on the full moon, then they were inclined to believe that Wormtail had been there on the full moon.

But that didn't do much of anything for the two wizards' comfort. There'd been no sign to show them Remus had had company that night, and the spells they'd learned in Auror training didn't fail. Then there was the mystery of _how_ Wormtail would have survived the night of Lily's murder when nothing else in or around the house made it out of the explosion.

_All that was found was a finger… _

Sirius sat in his cubicle in Auror Headquarters, two seconds from beating his head against the desk. He had a stack of parchment in his inbox as tall as Harry, and he hadn't started on any of it yet. Any second now, he was sure Mad-Eye would realize he'd been spacing out again and start yelling about slacking off. Reluctantly, Sirius grabbed a quill, dipped it in black ink, and pulled of the first roll of parchment from the pile. He unrolled it and tapped it with his wand to make it lie flat, and read some nonsense about false Death Eater reports.

He did this for about three more hours until his mind registered that the grumbling noise in his cubicle was not that of his paranoid supervisor, but his stomach. Looking at his wristwatch, he could see why – it was an hour past lunchtime.

Gratefully, he sighed and tossed his quill onto the desk, retrieved his wand and cloak, and left Auror Headquarters in search of food. The lifts reached the Atrium level, and he waited for the grilles to open and for the others to exit before following them out. His brisk pace to the fireplaces slowed down and his eyes narrowed as he spotted a familiar form by the Fountain of Magical Brethren. The wizard beside the fountain turned and spotted the Auror – he gave a quick smirk before turning back to his conversation with a sallow-skinned wizard who Sirius recognized as Broderick Bode from the Department of Mysteries. The real mystery here was why Lucius Malfoy would be conversing with an Unspeakable.

_Well, that's a bit obvious, don't you think?_ He thought. _He's trying to get top-secret information…_

No one else in the Atrium paid the two wizards any mind. Sirius finally realized he couldn't just arrest a man based on his being present in the Ministry and speaking with a Ministry official – no matter how much he wanted to – so, very reluctantly, he continued on his path to the fireplaces and Flooed to the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

"Daddy!" squealed Harry as James tickled him mercilessly on the sofa of Remus' living room. The boy's face was beet red from laughter as James' fingers wreaked havoc on his tiny ribs.

"What are you doing to that child?"

James ceased his attack on his son and turned to find Remus leaning against the doorframe to the kitchen. "He started it," James said, pointing down to Harry. "He tried to steal my glasses."

Remus chuckled and moved to sit in the armchair. "Maybe he's just testing him out. Doesn't bad vision run in the Potter family?"

"Indeed it does. Every male born in the last six generations has had to wear glasses," James confirmed, scooping up his soon who was still giggling uncontrollably and trying to tickle his father. "I was always hoping he'd get his vision from Lily's side of the family. From what photos I've seen, not one of them had to wear these ruddy things."

"I don't know, Prongs, I think they rather bring out your eyes," Remus teased.

James glared at him. "Sod off," he said, covering Harry's ears. "Lily once tried to convince me to get those Muggle things that you stick in your eyes and they improve your vision…"

"Contacts?" Remus said. James nodded. "My mum used them. But you have to actually touch your eye to get them in…"

James made a face. "I know. Lily finally explained how they worked, and I told her I'd stick with my glasses."

Remus chuckled. "So have you spoken with Mad-Eye about going back to the Ministry?"

"Yeah," James nodded. "He says he'll be happy to have me back. Says someone's got to control Sirius."

"And he thinks that someone is you?" Remus said dryly. James shrugged. "I don't think anyone in the world could control Sirius Black."

"There were a few people who could," James said fairly. "You always knew how to make him feel bad about things."

Remus rolled his eyes. "That's not controlling, that's me trying to keep my prefect badge. And when it really counted, my making him feel bad didn't work, did it?"

"Are you referring to anything in particular?"

The other wizard shrugged, looking away.

"Remus, he apologized for the Snape thing. You can't still be holding that against him," James said.

Remus turned back with his eyebrows raised. "I can't? Really? So the fact that Sirius pulled a 'prank' that involved me nearly killing a person shouldn't matter?"

"That's not what I said," James said warily. "Look, Sirius was being an idiot. His pinnacle of idiocy just happened to be in sixth year and involved whatever he could use. I'm not defending what he did, and if you'll remember correctly, I didn't talk to him for a month. All I'm saying is that a lot has happened since then, and one incident shouldn't be held against him."

_No, there are a lot of bigger things to hold against him,_ Remus thought darkly. He loved Sirius as a brother, and he would defend Sirius to the death, but there were times when Remus wanted to strangle Sirius within an inch of his life.

"Evening, gents," said the topic of their conversation, entering the living room. "What's going on?"

Remus and James exchanged a glance, the latter silently begging Remus not to bring up old subjects. "James and I were just discussing what to do for dinner. Any suggestions?"

While Sirius rattled off all the things he wanted to eat, James gave Remus a small smile, and Remus returned it. They could deal with Sirius Black's idiotic history another day.

* * *

Christmas was quickly approaching, and James was slowly slipping back into depression. A week before Christmas day, Sirius had gone out and found a large tree, far too large to fit in Remus' living room, and ended up enlarging the ceiling to make it fit, much to Remus' exasperation. Even Harry was getting into the Christmas spirit. He set up his playthings just in front of the tree, and spent most of his time staring at the lights and bulbs. One of Sirius' contributions to the tree had been a tiny golden bird that flew around the branches every so often, and Harry could be seen trying to catch it when the bird got low enough to him. He managed once or twice, much to the child's delight. Both of James' best friends made a big deal about getting him involved in decorating the house and the too-large tree, and when he was busy he was fine. But when the three friends sat around the fireplace, sipping eggnog, James' eyes adopted a glazed look that Sirius was sure was caused by unshed tears.

On Christmas Eve, the Marauders and their little junior Marauder gathered in the living room after a surprisingly delicious meal prepared by Sirius – he'd told his friends they weren't allowed in the kitchen, because they would only ruin his concentration. James sat on the floor against the sofa, staring into the fireplace with a sad frown on his face while Sirius laid on his stomach with Harry, and Remus relaxed in his armchair. None of them said much of anything for an hour or so, all wondering if Christmas would be the same this year as it had been last year.

This would, obviously, be James' first Christmas without Lily since they'd been together. The holiday had been the witch's favorite, and she'd always gone to extremes to make sure her friends had as much fun as she did. In the background, Christmas music was playing softly from the wireless. Sirius kept looking away from Harry to sneak glances at James as the wizard sipped his drink and thought.

"So do we want to open presents tonight, or wait for morning?" Sirius asked a bit awkwardly. Remus started, tearing his eyes from the orange and yellow flames in the fireplace and looked at him. James didn't bother.

"It's up to you two," Remus said hoarsely. "Either way is fine by me."

"What do you think, Prongs?"

Slowly, James turned to him. "Well, the three of us always opened gifts on Christmas Eve, and waited for morning for family exchanges, but…"

Sirius didn't need him to finish the sentence. None of them had any family worth mentioning any more. _Except for each other_, Sirius corrected himself. Sirius hadn't seen his family in six years. Both James' parents and Remus' parents had died before they'd even gotten out of Hogwarts. It had always just been the three of them, if Sirius really thought about it. Lily had completed their mismatched family, but now that she was gone…

"Pa-foot!" said Harry's happy voice, tugging on the wizard's arm. Sirius turned to the boy and found him trying to stand and walk over to the tree and presents.

"I suppose we don't need to ask Harry for his vote," Remus grinned. "Come on, James, first one is yours."

James sighed, but joined his friends beside the tree. Harry was standing over the carefully wrapped presents with Sirius' help as he strategically selected the gift he wanted to hand out. He finally picked out a flat one with dancing snowmen on green wrapping. Turning carefully with the present, he handed it to his father.

James smiled and pulled Harry into his lap. "Thanks, mate," he said, kissing his son's head. "Is this from you?"

Harry nodded and pointed at the gift. "Open," he demanded.

The wizards laughed, and James did as he was told. Sirius looked on anxiously. Before the paper had been torn off completely, the laughter on James' face died and he gulped heavily. It was a framed picture that Remus had found in a box in his basement. All the pictures James had of his family had been destroyed when his home had exploded, so Sirius thought this would be the perfect thing for him. It was Lily, James, and Harry only six months after the boy was born. The three of them were in the backyard of their home in Godric's Hollow. James had his arm around Lily, who held Harry up so that both the camera and his parents could see him. They all looked happy to just be together, and the rest of the world didn't exist. Sirius mused that was how it had always been for the Potters. They had each other and nothing else mattered.

Slowly, James removed the rest of the paper from the photo and looked up at his friends. "Thank you," he said hoarsely. Remus and Sirius nodded. "And thank you, Harry," he added to the child who was looking at him expectantly. "Who's this?" he asked, pointing at Lily.

"Mummy," Harry said, smiling widely at the photo.

"Yes, that's Mummy," James said quietly, staring at the picture. After a long moment, he set the photo aside and looked up at his friends. "So, who's opening one next?"

* * *

Christmas morning was a rather lazy time in the cottage. The wizards all slept until ten o'clock, and when they did get out of bed, none of them were too keen on doing anything. Harry, however, had other ideas for the day. Just after breakfast, while Remus was drinking his morning coffee and reading the _Daily Prophet_, Harry came into the kitchen with his heavy jacket on and socked feet.

"And just what do you think you're doing, young man?" Remus asked in a mock-stern tone. Harry wasn't fooled – he giggled at the wizard.

"Ow-side," he said in his own language.

Remus looked at him for a moment until realization dawned. "Oh, you want to play in the snow, Harry?"

Harry nodded.

"Hmm…" Remus said. "Well, we can't exactly go out without your father and godfather, but they might not want to play. You want to change their minds?"

Remus wasn't sure how much of this Harry really understood, but he nodded eagerly still, grinning widely. "All right," the wizard smiled. "First, let's get you properly bundled up." Remus went to the front hall and got Harry's snow pants, boots, mittens, scarf and hat (James would kill him if he let Harry catch cold), and starting dressing Harry for the cold winter weather. Harry started squirming when Remus tried to get him into his snow pants, he shoved his feet in the wrong boots and couldn't get one foot out again, and he lost a mitten somewhere in his coat, but eventually the two of them were all dressed up and ready to go.

"Now wait here…" Remus told Harry. Remus stood and went to the back door and opened it; he could see a foot of snow had fallen in the backyard overnight. He scooped up two large handfuls of the white powder and packed each handful into a tight ball before going back inside. Signaling for Harry to be quiet, Remus entered the living room, where his best friends were on the verge of falling asleep to the music on the wireless. Without warning, he hit each of his best friends dead in the face with the cold snowballs. The effects were priceless. Sirius sat straight up on the sofa with a yelp as the snowball hit him. James fell out of his armchair where he'd been dozing with a surprised scream.

Meanwhile, Remus was doubled over in laughter and Harry was wandering in to see what had happened. When he found his father on the floor, face covered in snow, he said, "Daddy wet," with a loud giggle.

James looked up at Remus' red face with a raised eyebrow, and then over at Sirius who was wiping snow out of his eyes. "Padfoot," he said solemnly.

"Yes, Prongs?" Sirius said in the same tone.

"This is war."

"That it is."

The two wizards stood in a flash and Remus just had time to snatch Harry off the floor and run out the backdoor before the Aurors caught up with them. The snowball fight that followed was one for the record books. Remus and Harry built a snow fort on one side of the yard while Sirius and James used shield charms as theirs. When Remus complained that it wasn't fair that they had two wands while he only had one on his side, they took the charms down and were forced to use more primitive means for protection. They tried to stand behind a large tree while Remus launched snowballs at them, but this ended with James pushing Sirius out, and Sirius getting hit with two snowballs, one right after another, in his chest.

Harry really showed his Marauder spirit later in the morning. He left the protection of the snow fort, where he'd been packing snowballs as best he could with his small hands for Remus, and ventured out in the middle of the "war zone". He tripped and fell face first into the snow, and started to cry. James called a timeout and ran to his son. He picked Harry up to comfort him and found himself eating snow while his son giggled loudly and attempted to run back to the snow fort.

The fight was declared a tie by noon when they all found their fingers frozen. Sirius led the way gratefully back into the kitchen where hot chocolate was prepared, and clothes were dried off. James carried a tray of steaming mugs and a sippy cup with mildly hot chocolate for Harry into the living room where the fire was roaring, and sat happily on the sofa.

"I can't remember the last time I did that," he said, watching his son doze off beside him.

"Sixth year," Remus said promptly, taking one of the mugs from the tray. "Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw."

Sirius barked a laugh. "Oh yeah," he said. "And the Slytherins who wandered out kept trying to sabotage us."

"When did they not try to sabotage us?" James grinned. "I remember that now. Didn't Emmeline hit you in the eye, Remus?"

Remus shrugged. "Probably. I got hit a lot that day."

"I do remember a snowball hitting James, and Lily throwing one back and hitting the Ravenclaw in the face. That guy went around school for a week with a red mark on his cheek."

"She charmed it with red dye," James said. "You couldn't see it in the snow, but once it hit him, it stayed."

Sirius laughed loudly. "That's brilliant," he said. "You know, with her aim, I never understood why she didn't join the Quidditch team."

"Couldn't fly," Remus said. "Hated it, didn't she, James?"

James nodded, smiling widely. "First time I ever took her out on a broomstick, she begged the whole time for me to land. Of course, that may have been because it was raining and windy, and we were flying over the Hogwarts lake."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "How romantic," he said sarcastically.

James threw a pillow at him.

"You need to find something else to throw at me, mate," Sirius said, using the pillow to cushion his head as he lay back on the floor. "Pillows are getting old."

James threw one of Harry's plastic blocks at him.

"Ow," Sirius groaned. "Prat."

The rest of the day was spent recalling stories from their Hogwarts days, and memorable pranks involving anything they could think of. Though it was obvious James was thinking about Lily, Sirius and Remus could see quite clearly he was making amazing progress.

_And it'll only get better from here_, Remus thought, smiling to himself.

* * *

**AN: **And it seems some of the fluff has bled over from Resolutions to here. But just as it was in Resolutions, it's not going to last here either. The next chapter will be skipping ahead some time. When it'll be updated, I have no idea. Sorry about the two month hiatus (again), but writer's block was killing me. For those wondering about Complicated (Anne), I'm having a worse time with that than I did with this. However, I'm having no such problem with Resolutions, and that will be updated within the next few days. So until then, please review. Thank you for your patience with this story! 


	11. Scabbers

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Eleven_

Diagon Alley housed many odd shops. There were shops for buying cauldrons, eel's eyes for potion making, genuine owl feathers for quills, even a place to buy the owl itself. But the oddest place in Diagon Alley was the new little shop right across from Gambol and Japes Joke Shop. The building hadn't been occupied in ten years, not since the former shop owner closed the doors due to lack of funds. The new owner of the shop was immediately approved when he'd applied for use of the location, and was even given a discount in the building's rent; it was only fitting that this young man followed in his father's footsteps.

The only problem Remus Lupin had when he decided to reopen his father's bookshop, Lupin Imports, was the level of gold in his Gringotts vault – there was hardly enough to pay for the first shipment of books. He thought about getting a loan from the Goblins, but when he'd run this by his two best friends, James Potter and Sirius Black, they threatened to curse him for being idiotic.

"Goblin interest rates are impossible to pay off," Sirius had said. "You're great-great-great-great grandchildren will still be paying them off."

The two wizards offered to give the gold needed to start the bookshop running again to Remus, but he refused it. He didn't want charity. They then offered to give him a loan – he could pay it back with no interest when the shop began making a profit. Privately, they agreed not to accept the money when Remus tried to give it to them. But Remus wouldn't accept this either. He said he needed to do this on his own if he was going to do it at all, and if he couldn't even get the gold for the premises, he had no business trying to run his own shop. He was ready to give up on his idea of opening his father's shop, the one Remus spent most of his time in as a child, when James and Sirius came up with their best plan yet.

James arrived at Remus' cottage one evening with the deed to a building in Diagon Alley – the very same one Remus had wanted to purchase. He'd had to pay a lot extra, since Remus had been approved to buy it long before James brought in his gold. He stuffed the deed in his best friend's hand and told him there was no arguing allowed – he, Remus, and Sirius would be partners in the bookshop. James and Sirius would be the financial backers, and Remus would run the business aspect, since the other two had no clue about how to run a Muggle book import shop. Remus stared at his best friend's face, finding no trace of humor or anything hinting that this was one of James' pranks. After a few minutes of this, Remus smiled widely, took the deed, and beat his friend over the head with it.

"That's for going behind my back, you git," Remus said, grinning, as he and James went to the kitchen to celebrate their little endeavor.

Three years later, Lupin Imports was a huge success in Diagon Alley. Remus practically lived in his bookshop, going through new shipments of Muggle books, sorting through volumes of books he hadn't read since he was a child, ordering new books, or just staring around in awe. His shop was his life – James and Sirius were still partners, but it was rare that they had any part in the business; every so often, Remus would ask their opinions of what books he should order, or if he should repaint the walls, or get new armchairs for the customers to sit in while they were previewing the books that interested them.

During business hours, James and Sirius were busy at the Ministry with their own jobs in the Auror squads, so Remus' duties were doubled – he ran the bookshop and kept an eye on Harry after he got out of primary school. The now five-year-old loved spending time in the bookshop, just as Remus had when he was young. Harry spent his days exploring the different books – he preferred the ones about Muggle sports – or helping a customer find what they were looking for – spending all that time there gave him a very good idea of where everything was located.

Currently, Remus was finishing with a customer, and Harry was putting a shipment of fantasy books on the shelves. James and Sirius would be getting off work at any minute, and they would come by to pick Harry up, just as the routine had been for three years.

"Please come again," Remus said with a smile as his customer took her change. Once the door was closed, Harry ran up to the counter. He took a deep breath to say something, but Remus cut him off. "No, Harry, we're not going to Florean's until your father gets here."

"But when will that be?" Harry asked, climbing up on a stool beside Remus. "What if someone attacks the Ministry while Dad and Sirius are leaving and they have to stay and battle, and it takes hours, and then we have to go and save them?"

Remus raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Where do you come up with things like that?"

"Sirius," Harry said simply, kicking his legs off the side of the stool. "He said he's going to teach me how to defend myself against bad wizards."

"And how do you plan on doing that without a wand? You can't get one until you're eleven."

Harry shrugged. "Dungbombs and stink pellets will work."

Remus burst out laughing. "Yes, I can just see you winning a battle with just dungbombs and stink pellets as ammo," he said with a grin. The bell over the door jingled and Remus looked up. "It's about time you two got here. Harry was just telling me about his plan of attack if bad wizards ever infiltrated the Ministry. Honestly, Sirius, you're going to turn this boy into another Mad-Eye with all this talk about battles."

Sirius grinned widely. "It's not my fault he wants to hear all our old war stories. I blame Prongs."

James rolled his eyes. "I've asked you a million times not to tell Harry those stories, Padfoot, but have you once listened to me?"

"What can it hurt to tell him about the first war?" Sirius asked. "He's going to learn about it some time, so he might as well hear about it from someone who isn't going to sugarcoat the facts."

Remus and James exchanged a look that said '_he's hopeless_', and James caught Harry just as he jumped off the counter into his father's arms. "Were you good for Uncle Moony, Harry?"

"Yup," Harry said, straightening the round-rimmed glasses he'd had to get the year before. "Guess what book I'm reading, Dad."

"What book are you reading, Harry?"

"You have to guess!"

James smiled indulgently. "Hmm… _How to Turn Your Godfather Into a Toad in __Two Minutes_?"

"No," Harry said while Sirius looked around the shelves, completely oblivious to what James had said.

"I have no idea, then."

"The most wicked book ever. It's called _Lord of the Rings_."

James raised an eyebrow at Remus. "I didn't even understand that book when I was seventeen, when Lily showed it to me; how does he understand it?"

Remus shrugged. "You got me. He just picked it up this morning and started reading. Granted, every few sentences he needs me to explain what a word is, but he knows what's going on."

James ruffled his son's hair. "Too smart for your own good, kiddo," he said fondly. Harry smiled widely. "Well, we should get out of here. Padfoot, are you coming over tomorrow night?"

"Huh?" Sirius said, turning around from the books. "Oh, yeah, I'll be there."

"Have you asked Dorcas her permission?" Remus asked slyly.

Sirius glared as James sniggered. "At least I've got a woman, Moony. I don't see you running after anyone."

"That's because the woman he wants has gone MIA," James said, grinning at Remus.

Remus rolled his eyes. "If you're talking about Emmeline…" he said.

"Of course we're talking about Emmeline," Sirius said in a _don't-be-stupider-than-you-have-to-be_ tone. "What other witch have you ever mooned over – no pun intended, mate."

"Get out of my shop," Remus replied, his neck turning red with a blush.

"Excuse me, Lupin, but this is part my shop too," Sirius said with a grin to match James'. "And I think I'll just take this book with me tonight, if you don't mind."

Remus looked at the cover. "Have you even heard of baseball, Sirius?"

Sirius shook his head. "It can't be any harder than Quidditch – the players don't even fly…"

"While you two argue this out," James said over Remus' comeback, "my son and I are going to go home. We will see you tomorrow, Moony. Thanks for watching him."

Sirius and Remus paused in their argument only long enough to say goodbye to the Potters – before James had even closed the door all the way, he could hear them start back on each other. He chuckled and shook his head. "What are we going to do with them, Harry?"

"Get 'em muzzles?" Harry suggested.

James laughed loudly. "Sounds like a good plan to me. Okay, hold on tight; we're going to Apparate."

Harry tightened his grip around his father's neck and buried his head into the wizard's shoulder. Moments later, when he looked up, they were facing an average-sized house with a large front yard. James put his son on the ground and followed the boy up the path to the front door. The wizard tapped his wand on the doorknob and Harry pushed it open.

Less than a year after losing his wife, James had decided to move out of Remus' cottage with Harry, and bought a house in Devon, just outside a small village called Ottery St. Catchpole. The thought of going back to Godric's Hollow had passed briefly through his mind, but he could never bear to say it out loud, or to actually do it. Godric's Hollow was where he'd lived with Lily, and if he went back there, he'd never live peacefully. He'd always dwell on what could have been different, or how he should have been there to save her. Not that he didn't dwell on those things anyway; he just didn't do it all day, every day. He had his son to care for, and Harry was enough to keep anyone out of a depression for too long.

The front hall of their home was covered in pictures – pictures of Harry as he grew, pictures of Lily and James, pictures of the Marauders. The furniture was simple – just enough for James and Harry to be comfortable. James had a study on the second level, across from his bedroom, and Harry had a playroom down the hall across from his own bedroom. Though James did his best to keep his son from being spoiled, between Sirius and Remus, Harry was pretty well pampered when it came getting what he wanted. And if he was honest with himself, James wasn't much better about buying Harry new toys for absolutely no reason.

"Can we have ice cream for dinner?" Harry called, kicking off his shoes as he ran to the kitchen.

But James did have his limits. "No, Harry we cannot have ice cream for dinner. Take your shoes and school bag up to your room, please. Did you get your lessons done with Remus today?"

"Yeah, he helped me with math, because I didn't understand it," Harry said, running back into the hall, grabbing his shoes, and thundering up the staircase to his bedroom.

"He understands _Lord of the Rings_, but not math," James muttered to himself, shaking his head.

He went to the kitchen, took a Butterbeer from the fridge, and sorted through the day's post. Most everything that day was junk that he threw in the rubbish bin without even opening. There were a few bills that he glared at, and one actual package that caused him to raise an eyebrow. It was a Muggle bulky manila envelope with nothing on the front of it except _James Potter_ written in tiny cursive writing. He didn't recognize the handwriting, so he didn't open it immediately. Instead he checked to make sure his son wasn't on his way to the kitchen, took out his wand, and tapped the tip to the envelope.

His tracking charms and identity spells to see who sent the letter showed nothing. James furrowed his brow and used a charm to see the letters contents without having to open the envelope. All he could see was a small stack of photographs. After a five-minute debate with himself, he opened the envelope and withdrew the Muggle photos carefully. His jaw dropped and he felt the color drain from his face as he examined them closely.

_That's not possible…_ he thought desperately. _There's no way…_

When he reached the last photo, a close-up shot, he studied it carefully, wanting to make sure he wasn't just imagining this. _It could be a hoax,_ the reasonable side of his mind said. _Someone could just be messing with my head. There's no one who knows about this who would do something like that, though…_

"Dad, I'm hungry," Harry said, finally reentering the kitchen after what seemed like hours to the wizard.

Hastily, James stuffed the photos back into their envelope, wiped quickly at his eyes, cleared his throat, and stood up. "Yeah, mate, so am I. Er… how about we go out to eat tonight? I'm not really in the mood to cook…"

Harry smiled briefly, until he saw his father's face. "Dad, are you all right?" he asked concernedly, climbing up to stand on a chair to better look at James.

James tried to smile reassuringly. "Of course I'm all right, Harry. Why wouldn't I be?"

Harry bit his lip. "Were you thinking about Mum?" he asked in a small voice.

The wizard swallowed hard. "Yeah, buddy, I was…" he said hoarsely. "But I'm okay now that you're here."

Harry stuck out his arms, a gesture that silently demanded James to pick him up for a hug. James did so, and kissed his son's unruly head of hair. "Don't be sad," Harry said quietly.

James smiled and lifted Harry's chin up with a finger. "How can I be sad with a kid like you around?" Harry sniffed a little as James kissed his forehead, just above his lightning bolt scar. "Come on, let's go eat. Afterwards, I'll take you for ice cream, since Remus wouldn't."

Harry grinned. "Can I have peanut butter and strawberry?"

"That's a little odd, but yes, you can have peanut butter and strawberry if you want," James chuckled before going to the fireplace to Floo to the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

Sirius' head was bent over the desk in his cubicle the next morning as he hastily worked on a report due to Mad-Eye by noon that day. He was so caught up in his work that he didn't even see his partner and best friend walk up behind him and drop an envelope over his head. "Bloody hell, James," Sirius cried. "Give me a heart attack why don't you." 

"Sorry," James said, not sounding at all sincere. "Did you have something to do with this? And if I find out you lied to me, I will kill you slowly and painfully, Sirius."

Sirius raised an eyebrow at the look of complete exhaustion on James' face before turning to the envelope. "What is it?"

"Just look."

Sighing, Sirius opened the envelope and turned it over in his hand, allowing a stack of photos to drop into his palm. He flipped through them while James watched his expression closely – it was the same expression he'd had the night before. "What the hell is this?" Sirius breathed some five minutes later.

"Don't know," James replied flatly. "It was mixed in with my post last night. I don't know if an owl brought it, or if someone walked by my window and dropped it on the counter."

"I've told you to ward that bloody window," Sirius said, pointing an accusatory finger at his best friend.

"Thanks, Mad-Eye," James said, rubbing his eyes. "Just help me figure out what the hell is going on here. Is someone messing with me?"

Sirius arranged the photos on his desk and studied them pensively. "Isn't there a spell to see if a document has been forged?"

"Yeah, I tried it already," James said. "Maybe they're just old wizard photos that were frozen."

Sirius looked at him oddly. "How many photos did we take of Wormtail in his Animagus form, James?" he whispered. "And did you see this front paw? It's missing a toe."

"I saw that," James muttered. "Well, what do you think?"

"Have you shown these to Remus?"

"Not yet. I saw you first."

"I'm flattered," Sirius replied dryly. "I don't know, James. If this really is Wormtail, which I don't think it is, because Wormtail is _dead_, why would he hold still long enough to let himself be photographed?"

"Maybe he didn't know someone was going to send the photos to me?"

"James," Sirius said with as much patience as he could muster. "No one knows that Peter Pettigrew was an Animagus except you, me, and Remus. Why would someone take a picture of a random rat and send it to you?"

"If I could figure out who sent me the bloody package, I could find out."

"But you don't know who sent it, so that's where we begin. Once we figure that out, we can go from there."

James nodded and leaned against the cubicle wall. "Do you remember when Remus swore he saw Wormtail in the Shack a few years back?" he asked quietly.

The other wizard sighed. "Yes, but I thought we all agreed that was a hallucination due to blood loss?"

"Please, Sirius," James scoffed. "Remus does not hallucinate, no matter the circumstances. I believe he saw something that night–"

"I'm not saying he didn't _see_ something; I'm just saying he didn't see Wormtail."

"Why are we arguing about this?"

"Because you get grumpy when you don't sleep," Sirius replied promptly, earning a glare from his best friend. "Look, go tell Mad-Eye you're not feeling well, go home, and get some rest. I'll take care of the paperwork today – you can make it up to me tonight with Firewhiskey and food."

James chuckled. "You're a bloody alcoholic, mate."

"Probably, but this job does that to you. Now get out of here before I have to put you in a body-bind and Apparate you home myself."

"Alright, I'm going. You sure you can get all this done on your own? I've got no problem staying…"

"Out," Sirius said, pointing his wand at his best friend. "I'll see you tonight."

"Right," James said, shaking his head. "See you."

* * *

That night marked the four-year anniversary of Lily Potter's murder. Every year since that night, James had his friends by his side while he cried or told stories or just sat staring at the fire. Harry had spent the last three years with the wizards on that night, though he hadn't known what the night meant until just last year. His son was the only reason James had managed to get through the grief of losing his wife. Without Harry, James would have had no reason to live, and probably would have died of a broken heart years ago. His friends gave him unwavering support – on days when he woke up from a dream about Lily, and felt he just needed some time alone, Sirius or Remus would come by and take Harry out for a few hours. On nights like tonight, they made him dinner, gave him a drink or two if he wanted one, and just waited for him to say something. They tried not to make the night seem unlike any other one – if they had, James would just brood for the entire day beforehand. 

This year was a good year, much better than the previous three. James was in a decent mood, regardless of the package of photos he'd received the night before, and spent the night with his friends and son playing board games, talking, and eating. Harry retrieved a photo album he and his father had made together of Lily, and as they went through it, James would tell stories about each photo.

When Harry fell asleep on his father's lap around eleven o'clock, James closed the leather bound photo album, set it on the coffee table, picked the boy up, and took him upstairs to bed. He returned to find his best friends sitting together on the sofa, flipping through the album and sniggering occasionally.

James sat in an armchair beside them. "Anyone up for Exploding Snap?"

"Won't that wake Harry?" Remus asked without looking up from the album.

"That boy sleeps like you do, Moony," Sirius said. "The world could end, and he would still be asleep."

"Let's just hope he doesn't snore like you do, and he'll be all right," Remus retorted.

James raised an eyebrow. "Okay, you two sound like an old married couple."

Sirius and Remus looked at each other oddly and shuddered artistically in unison. "Why do I get the feeling of déjà vu?" Remus said a few moments later.

"Because you're odd," Sirius said. "Prongs, you get the cards, and I'll get the Firewhiskey…"

"Told you he's an alcoholic," Remus said, grinning at James.

"I tried to tell him that today, but he doesn't seem to care." James went to the fireplace and took a deck of cards from the mantle. He turned back and looked at Remus while the werewolf continued flipping through photos. The package that had been received the night before hadn't been mentioned all evening, and James didn't want to wait too long before letting Remus in on the mystery. At the same time, however, the full moon was approaching, and Remus never handled his transformations well when he was stressed – and something like this had the potential to be rather stressful.

_After the full moon, then_, James decided. _We'll tell Remus, and he, Sirius, and I can figure out what's going on around here._ He sighed and looked at a framed photo of his and Lily's wedding day on the wall opposite him. _I wish you were here, Lily. You always knew how to handle things like this…_

He was unable to dwell on his thoughts for much longer; Sirius arrived in the living room floating three glasses of Firewhiskey and a full bottle of the drink in front of him.

"Alright, gents, who's first?" the wizard asked, sitting in an armchair as James dealt the cards.

* * *

Not many miles away, a boy was getting ready for bed. Lying on his pillow was his pet rat, Scabbers, who'd been found almost exactly four years ago that night, if he remembered correctly. Scabbers was the only thing in his house that he could claim as his own, since he and his siblings had to share pretty much everything they had. But none of them wanted what Fred and George called a smelly old shoe brush, so he was safe to assume Scabbers would never have to be passed down. 

_Not that I would allow him to be given to them anyway_, the boy thought. _Bill and Charlie are too old for pet rats; Fred and George would just use him as Beater practice; Ron's afraid of spiders, so surely he's afraid of rats; and Ginny… well, she's far too young for a pet, anyway. She won't be able to take care of him for a few more years…_

"Scabbers, you've got to move," Percy Weasley said, shifting his rat from the pillow to the end of the bed. Scabbers only lifted his head slightly, realizing he'd been moved before going back to sleep. Percy rolled his eyes. That was all Scabbers ever did, he mused. Eating and sleeping were the rat's only talents. But as much as Percy complained about Scabbers' lack of activity, he loved that he had something of his own, something his siblings didn't have. Bill and Charlie had their own broomsticks, but those wore out; pets didn't. Or that's the way Percy saw it. His father had always been amazed that a common garden rat had lived as long as it had.

"He must have some magical ability in him, or else he would have died ages go," the Weasley patriarch once said.

Whatever Scabbers' talent was, Percy didn't much care. Scabbers wasn't going to die any time soon, and nothing would make Percy give him up.

* * *

**AN: **I know, you're all shocked because it was only a week since my last update of this instead of two months. The only reason I even attempted it so soon is because this is Mistress Editor's favorite story of mine, and it's her congratulations "present"for getting into university. So when you review like the good little readers you are :wink, wink: wish her luck! 


	12. Returns and Plotting

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Twelve_

Harry Potter was bright for his age. Remus told him he was reading at a level higher than Sirius ever had – his dad had teased his best friend mercilessly about that for weeks. Harry was also very observant, and always had been. And he knew when something was bothering his father. Originally he thought it was just that his dad was thinking about his mum – the anniversary of her death had just passed, and his dad was sometimes a little upset for a few days afterwards. But even a week after her death anniversary, his dad's mood hadn't improved and Harry wasn't sure why. He'd asked Sirius why his dad seemed so sad, but Sirius told Harry that James was just tired from work, and not to take it personally. Sirius never talked down to Harry; he usually always told Harry the truth, no matter what James and Remus would say about it.

Harry still worried though. His dad was obviously tired – he didn't sleep a lot of nights, and Harry often heard him pacing his office. Dad had been doing a lot of his work (Harry wasn't sure if it was Auror work or not) at home lately, which he'd never done before. Dad always said he didn't like bringing work home with him, because it took away from his time with Harry. Harry knew he wasn't allowed to know what case his dad was working on, but lately Harry would hear his father muttering under his breath every so often. Always the same words, too: photos, Wormtail, and _how?_ Wormtail wasn't an unknown name to Harry's ears. He'd heard it often when his father, Remus, or Sirius were telling him stories about their Hogwarts days. He'd also heard (though he was sure he wasn't supposed to have heard it) that Wormtail was partly responsible for his mum's death. Sirius had called him a lot of bad names, names Harry wasn't allowed to repeat. But Wormtail had died when Harry's mum was killed – Harry had seen a newspaper clipping in Remus' desk a few months ago that told all about it. Only a finger had been found of him after the explosion in Godric's Hollow.

So why would his dad be so upset about Wormtail now?

Harry sighed heavier than any boy his age had a right to as he walked down the familiar path to a friend's home. He'd met Ron Weasley a few days after moving to Ottery St. Catchpole, when Ron's older twin brothers, Fred and George, had been chasing him around, trying to get him to submit to what they were calling "test experiments". Harry hadn't blamed Ron from running; from what he knew of the Weasley twins, their "experiments" weren't anything any kid would want to be involved with.

Harry liked the Weasleys; Mrs. Weasley loved to cook for Harry whenever he came over to play, and she saved most of the cakes and biscuits for him. Mr. Weasley, when he wasn't at the Ministry working, got excited about calling the kids into the garage to show them one of his Muggle things. Bill and Charlie, Ron's oldest brothers, usually let Harry and Ron play Quidditch with them and the twins. He even sort of liked Ron's little sister, Ginny, who split up her time between playing dolls with Luna Lovegood (who lived a few miles down) and trying to keep up with her older brothers and their almost nonstop Quidditch games. Percy, another of Ron's older brothers (he had a lot of them), usually stayed up in his room, reading. Sometimes they would manage to guilt-trip Percy into coming outside and playing a quick game with them, but Harry rarely saw him. That suited Harry just fine; Percy was what Sirius called a "stuck-up git" at the best of times. Harry would spend the night with the Weasleys at least once a month, usually on the full moon when Dad and Sirius went to keep Remus company during his transformation.

That was something Harry had been told very sternly to keep quiet from any of his friends – the fact that Remus Lupin, the quiet, intelligent bookshop owner, was a bloodthirsty werewolf once a month, and that his two best friends were illegal Animagi. Harry didn't mind keeping the secret; every kid likes having a special secret.

"Hey, Harry!"

Harry looked up to the top of the Burrow, shielding his eyes from the sun, and found Ron with his head sticking out his bedroom window. Harry grinned. "Hey, Ron! I brought my broomstick – wanna go for a fly?" He held out his Nimbus 950, the one his dad had bought him for Christmas last year.

For a few moments, Ron stared at it as enviously as he had on the first day Harry had shown him the broomstick. "Come on inside," he called. "Mum's making cake, and I've got to finish cleaning my room before I can go play!"

"Okay!"

Harry walked up to the backdoor, knocked once, and entered. "Hi, Mrs. Weasley," he said as he closed the door.

The large redheaded woman turned and beamed at him. "Harry, dear! Come in, come in, you look so thin. Have you been eating?"

Harry suppressed a laugh and nodded. "Yes, ma'am." That was the first thing she said to him every time he came over. "I came to fly with Ron."

Mrs. Weasley cast a disapproving look at the ceiling after a _thud_ sounded somewhere upstairs, in what Harry knew would be the twins' room. "Those two," Mrs. Weasley muttered. "What am I going to do with them?"

It was a rhetorical question, Harry knew, so he kept his own suggestions to himself (_lock them in a cage_). He assumed Mrs. Weasley would frown at that idea. Harry covertly rolled his eyes when he heard a heavy, annoyed sigh coming closer to the kitchen.

"Hi, Percy," Harry said politely. His father always told him to be polite to everybody, no matter how he felt about them.

"Hello, Harry," Percy said distractedly. "Mother, the twins are disturbing my studies. Again."

"Oh, Percy," Mrs. Weasley said with some exasperation. "You're not even in Hogwarts yet. It's summer, so you've got no home school assignments. What studies could you possibly have?"

Percy looked highly insulted. "I have many things I need to learn before I enter Hogwarts, Mother…"

Harry blocked out the rest of Percy's response and looked at the rat on the older boy's shoulder. Scabbers. Harry had never been allowed to hold Scabbers – Percy was highly opposed to such things, thinking Harry was too young to know how to handle a pet. Harry didn't mind – he'd never been fond of rats. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that Wormtail's Animagus form had been a rat…

Harry narrowed his eyes slightly as he set eyes on Scabbers' right paw. It was missing a toe. Something started to connect in Harry's brain, but like any five-year-old, he lost it when he heard his best friend's footsteps stomping down the stairs.

"Come on, Harry!" Ron called, running through the living room and kitchen. Harry got up from the table and chased after Ron, both boys ignoring Mrs. Weasley's calls from the backdoor.

…

James and Sirius stood at the kitchen counter, watching Remus flip through the photos of the rats that had come in the mail less than two weeks ago. The blank mask James and Sirius were so used to seeing on Remus was now firmly in place as he studied the last picture, the close-up of the rat with a toe missing from its right front paw. Remus hadn't said a word in ten minutes, a good sign he'd fallen into one of his thoughtful trances. James wished he'd say something. He needed confirmation that he wasn't completely mental.

"Well," Remus said evenly some five minutes later, carefully avoiding the eyes of his best friends as he placed the photos back in their envelope.

"Well, what?" James asked impatiently. He crossed over to the table and sat down across from Remus. "What do you think?"

Remus sighed, glanced at Sirius, and finally back at James. "Honestly, Prongs, I don't know," he said cautiously. "It would certainly seem… curious that this rat resembles Wormtail, up to and including the missing toe, but the chances of this rat _actually_ being Wormtail…"

"No, no, no," James said, standing again and starting to pace. "No. You can't say that, Moony." Remus raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who saw him on the full moon, after Lily died. You're the one who stuck to the story, no matter what Sirius and I said to you. You still believe it, I know you do. And now you're telling me you don't think the rat in those pictures Wormtail?"

"James, all I'm saying is that it's very strange that, out of the blue, some mysterious person sends you pictures of a rat that resembles your allegedly dead ex-friend and co-conspirator in the murder of your wife. I know you're upset, and you're still looking for revenge for what happened to Lily, but you shouldn't get your hopes too soon."

James closed his eyes tightly and pulled at his hair. He hadn't wanted to admit it to anybody, least of all himself, but he _had_ gotten his hopes up that they'd finally found Wormtail, and at last, justice could be served. _Even though you know that no punishment will be enough to pay for what happened to your Lily…_

"Prongs?" Sirius said quietly. "Something is going on here, and I don't know about Remus, but I'm not going to rest until I figure out who sent the bloody photos in the first place."

"Speaking of which," Remus said, reaching for the envelope again. He looked at the small script on the front that James' address was written in. "I've seen this before somewhere…" His brow furrowed in thought. "I just… I can't remember where…"

James cursed and punched a wall out of frustration. Behind him, his friends exchanged worried glances. "You two don't understand what it's been like for me," he said in a low voice. "I've had to live every day for the past four years wondering if Voldemort is still out there somewhere – Dumbledore said he wasn't dead forever… I've had to sit and wonder… if Wormtail really is still alive, where the bloody hell is he? I've had to live with the fact that I left my wife the one night I had a feeling I should have been home. I know I probably would have been killed too, but maybe that was supposed my fate. If I was going to die, I'd rather it be protecting my family. The nightmares haven't stopped; I don't think they ever will. And now there's a chance, even if it's just the tiniest chance in the world, that I could catch one of the bastards responsible for what happened to her..."

"James–"

"You know what's been the hardest thing to deal with? I hate even thinking it… Every time I look at Harry, I see her. There are mornings when I'll go in his room after having one of those nightmares, and he'll open his eyes, and I'll see her staring back, accusing me of having a part in her death."

"You know that's not true, James," Remus said firmly. But James wasn't listening.

"I start wondering if Harry lived to punish me, so I'll have a reminder that I left my wife to die that night." James let out a shaky sigh. "I mean, you both know I love Harry more than I could ever love anyone, and I wouldn't give him up for anything in the entire world. But there are some days, some really bad days, when something deep inside me wishes she would have lived instead of him." His voice caught.

Remus and Sirius exchanged a worried glance. "James," Sirius said cautiously. "I wish I could say I know what you're thinking–" James and Remus gave him a look. "Okay, I only wish it so I could give you better advice. But this kind of thing is probably normal, mate. We know you miss Lily. We know you love Harry, and we know he probably reminds you of her every single day. But–"

"Sirius, you're not helping," Remus said. "James, the one thing Sirius is right about is that this is a normal thing to think when you've experienced a loss as you have. As much as I know you don't want to hear it, nothing you do is going to bring Lily back." James bristled, but Remus cut him off. "We'll help you figure this rat thing out, but please don't get your hopes up. Too much could go wrong."

"And what if it really was Wormtail?" James asked after a few moments.

Sirius looked at Remus, then back to James. "Then we figure out the best way to kill a rat."

…

Harry sat on the counter in Remus' bookshop with his legs dangling over the edge. Remus was in back, sorting out a new shipment of books, and left Harry in front to keep an eye on things while the shop was slow. The small boy was flipping through a Quidditch book that had somehow gotten mixed up with the Muggle books when the bell over the door rang. Harry looked up and smiled at the black haired witch.

"Hi, welcome to Lupin Imports," he said cheerfully.

The witch smiled back at him. "Well, hello there," she said. "Aren't you a little young to be running a bookshop?"

"This is Remus' shop. I just help out. I'm Harry."

"Hello, Harry, I'm Emmeline." The two shook hands. "So are you alone here?"

"Nope, Remus is in back."

The witch cast a slightly nervous glance at the door Harry indicated. "Is he busy?"

Harry shrugged. "Wanna talk to him?"

"Er…" Emmeline bit her lip. "I'm not sure…"

Before she could finish her sentence, the door to the back room opened. "Harry, your father just owled. He's going to be… late…" Remus trailed off when he spotted the witch. "Emmeline?"

"Hello, Remus," Emmeline replied, now definitely smiling nervously. "How are you?"

Remus nodded dumbly. "Not bad… Harry, could you excuse us for a moment?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine," he said, hopping off the table. "It was nice meeting you."

Emmeline smiled at him. "You too, Harry. I'm sure I'll see you around some time."

Harry went to the backroom, closed the door, and thought for a moment before bending down just a tad to listen through the keyhole. Remus would be upset if he knew Harry had been listening, but this way, Harry could tell his dad what happened later.

…

Emmeline was avoiding Remus' eye, looking over his shoulder at the door Harry had just gone through. "He's gotten big," she said.

"Yes, that's what happens to a child in five years time," he said a little more coolly than he'd intended. "Did you get bored in America?"

Emmeline sighed. "I understand you may be a bit upset with me, Remus, and I'm sorry for what happened, but I had to be with my family. My mother was ill."

"I do understand that, Emmeline. Family is very important. But what I don't understand is why you left the day before our first date without even sending an owl. I had no idea what happened to you. Nobody did."

"I'm sorry," Emmeline repeated quietly. "I wanted to tell you, but I thought I was doing the right thing. I realize I was wrong. Will you ever forgive me?"

Remus looked at her. "I suppose," he said dryly. "Although you do still owe me a date, you know."

She smiled. "Yes, I do. How's tomorrow night sound?"

"I'll have to check my schedule, but I believe I'm free." She rolled her eyes at him. "So what brings you back to jolly old England?"

She shrugged. "I missed my friends, missed my work. I love my family, but there is only so much I can take of my brothers before I want to strangle them both."

Remus chuckled. "I feel the same about Sirius and James."

"Ah yes, the dynamic duo. How are they?"

"They're well. They've both moved up in the Auror ranks, which they're of course happy about. James threw himself into work before you left, and that hasn't changed much. If he's not working, he's with Harry. And Sirius… Well, he never changes. He and Dorcas are still happily dating, I guess you'd call it."

Emmeline grinned. "I spoke with Dorcas earlier this morning. She says they moved in together."

"I'm surprised she hasn't killed him yet, to be honest. Sirius Black isn't the easiest person to live with at times. Especially after he's had a few drinks."

"Neither is Dorcas. She used to get plastered all the time at Hogwarts and stumbled around our dorm room for half the night, tripping over anything."

"A match made in heaven, then," Remus said, grinning. "So what do you think of the shop?"

Emmeline looked around and smiled widely. "It's wonderful, Remus. I remember you talking about doing this, but back then, I don't think you actually believed you could pull it off."

He nodded. "It's taken a lot of work, but I'm quite proud of it. And of course, I've got my little helper in back. I never realized a Potter could enjoy books so much."

She laughed. "A Potter man, you mean. Lily read constantly."

"Ah, but she was only a Potter by marriage," Remus pointed out. "Granted, the one time I met her parents and sister, I thought she fit more with the Potters than the Evanses."

"Her parents weren't so bad, really, but her sister…" Emmeline shuddered. "I still don't know that they were actually related. Lily and I used to talk about how Petunia must have been left on their doorstep by aliens or the circus."

Remus laughed. "That's a lot nicer than the things James used to say about her. Ah, speak of the devil…"

The door to the shop opened and James and Sirius entered, looking exhausted after a hard day's work. "I swear, Moony, Mad-Eye's getting more paranoid by the day," Sirius said, not seeing Emmeline immediately. "He sent us out to investigate a strange noise that ended up being a raccoon going through some old bat's garbage."

James tilted his head at Emmeline, as though trying to remember her. "Padfoot, where are your manners? Can't you see our good friend has a guest?"

Sirius grinned. "And a beautiful one at that. Emmeline, my love, how are you?"

Remus rolled his eyes and sighed as Sirius turned on the charm for Emmeline.

"I'm well, Sirius," she said, hugging and kissing his cheek. "And of course there's the illustrious James Potter. You both look great."

"As do you, Em," James said, kissing her cheek. "How long have you been back?"

"Since this morning," Emmeline replied, just before the backroom door was thrown open and a blur of black shot across the shop and into James' arms.

"Hi, Dad!" the boy greeted.

"Hey, there, kiddo," James said, standing up with his son. "How much trouble have you caused today?"

"None."

"Aw, why not?" Sirius asked, ruffling his godson's hair.

Harry shrugged. "Figured I need to keep Remus on his toes. If I cause trouble too often, he'll start expecting it. Right, Dad?"

James grinned at Remus' glare. "Er, right, son. So, Emmeline, would you care to catch up with your dear friends over dinner tonight?"

"I'd love to," the witch replied with a straight face. "Only they don't know I'm back yet."

"Ha ha," Sirius said. "You know you love us."

"Keep thinking that, Black," Emmeline said, grinning. "What'd you have in mind, James?"

"Well, I've been promising my favorite son here pizza for a week, if that's all right with everyone. My treat."

"Your treat?" Sirius said. "I'm in."

…

After dinner, James invited his friends back to his home for a few drinks, mostly because Harry was exhausted and had nearly fallen asleep at the restaurant. Sirius owled Dorcas and she met up with them once she finished work at St. Mungo's.

James couldn't remember the last time he was able to just relax and spend time with his friends without worrying about mysterious pictures or whatnot. He'd not seen much reason to celebrate lately, but now that one of his good friends had returned, he couldn't pass up the chance. Not to mention how great it was to see Remus smile so much. James had been aware that something had gone on between Remus and Emmeline, but the werewolf would never say what. In fact, the last James had heard about it was that Remus was thinking about asking her to dinner. That had been about a month or so before Emmeline had disappeared to America. Remus had tried to hide how upset he was, but James had always been able to see through his best friend's mask.

Remus had never shown much interest in dating, even in Hogwarts. He'd always been too afraid of having to tell a girl about his being a werewolf and her running away screaming. But Emmeline had never had a problem with it, which was odd, considering what happened to her father…

Sirius laughed at a story Emmeline and Dorcas were discussing. Just as James finished off his drink, a high-pitched scream sounded in the floor above them. All heads snapped to the ceiling, and James was out of his chair and up the stairs before anyone could say a word. He threw open Harry's bedroom door and was at the child's side in an instant.

"Harry, wake up," James said. "Come on, mate, it's only a dream…"

Harry's eyes snapped open and once he recognized his father, he clung to the wizard's robes, burying his head in James' chest. His entire body was shaking and he was covered with cold sweat.

James turned slightly to the door when he heard footsteps approach the room. His friends were looking in with wide-eyed concern. He turned back to his son. "Harry? Did you have a bad dream?"

Harry nodded jerkily, holding on even tighter to James.

"Can you tell me what it was about?"

"Bad people," was the muffled response. "Bright light. And Mummy."

James sighed and closed his eyes. "It was only a dream, mate," he repeated hoarsely. "There are no bad people here, I promise."

"But they might come here," Harry said fearfully. "Then what?"

"Then we'll deal with it, but there are a lot of charms over our house to keep us safe from anyone who tries to come in to hurt us. Nobody can get in here unless we let them. All right?"

Harry sniffled, nodded, and pulled his face away from James' chest far enough to rub his forehead.

"Do you have a headache?"

"Yeah, it hurts right here," Harry said, his hand covering the spot.

"Let me see," James said, gently pulling his son's hand away from his head. The Auror raised an eyebrow slightly when he saw that the lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead was a lot whiter than the rest of Harry's face. "Do you want to take a potion so you can get back to sleep?"

Harry yawned and shook his head. "No, I think I can sleep now."

"Okay. Let us know if you need anything, all right?"

"Kay," Harry replied, getting settled into his blankets again. "Love you, Dad."

"Love you, Harry," James said, leaning down to kiss Harry's forehead. "Sleep tight, kiddo."

Sirius, Remus, Emmeline, and Dorcas backed up into the hall so James could leave Harry's room. Sirius started to ask something, but James shook his head, indicating they should go downstairs before talking about what just happened. Once in the kitchen, James had the strong inclination to drink more.

"What was that all about?" Sirius asked quietly through the silence.

James shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe it's got something to do with all the stories you seem to enjoy telling him about the war, _Padfoot_."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I've been telling him those stories for years; he's never had a nightmare before now, has he?"

"Not one like that," James said. "I don't know what was more disturbing – his dreaming about bright lights and Lily, or the way he was holding his head."

"Was it his scar that was bothering him?" Remus asked.

James nodded.

"He's never had a problem with it irritating him before, has he?"

"No," James said with a sigh. "It was probably the dream that made it hurt." He looked around at his friends. "Right?"

Remus glanced at Emmeline. "Possible, I suppose. But there aren't many cases of people with scars as significant as Harry's. He didn't get that scar just by falling of his broomstick."

"Thanks, Remus, I never would have known that if you hadn't pointed it out," James said sarcastically. "I'm quite aware that his scar is far from normal, but I don't see what that has to do with his dream."

"I might have a theory, if you're willing to hear it," Emmeline said quietly.

James looked at her. "Yeah, of course."

She sighed. "Well, there are cases of curse scars, not one even close to Harry's, but slightly similar. Depending on the curse, the victim could have some sort of connection to the caster. People have reported strange dreams after they received their scar, or odd noises or smells."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "So you think Harry has a connection with Voldemort?"

She shrugged. "Voldemort used a very powerful curse on Harry, one that rebounded on him. It's possible that something might have connected them."

"If there's some connection, why is Harry just now being affected by it?" James asked. "There's never been any other evidence that Harry could be connected to Voldemort."

"Not to mention how utterly wrong it is just thinking about Harry being connected to that slimy bastard," Sirius muttered. "Look, it was probably nothing. He had a nightmare, he was sweating pretty badly, so maybe his sweat aggravated the scar. If it happens again, I'll be more worried, but I don't think it's anything to fret over."

James sighed and sat down at the kitchen table. "What I wouldn't give just to live a simple life for a change. No mystery, no drama…"

Sirius put a hand on his shoulder. "If you'd lived a simple, unexciting life, there would be no Marauders, James. And then where would you be?"

"Probably relaxing on a beach somewhere without having to worry about whether my best friend is going to get himself arrested for something."

The other Auror looked offended. "I resent that remark," he said.

"You would," Remus said. "But we're the ones who have to deal with the repercussions for your actions."

"I'm not a child," Sirius muttered. His friends raised their eyebrows at him. "What, I'm not!"

"Sirius," Remus said patiently. "You're more of a child at times than Harry is."

…

Late at night, while the residents of the Burrow were all in a dead sleep, a rat slipped out of one of the upstairs bedrooms and made his way down the crooked stairs to the kitchen. He climbed up the counter where he found fruit that had been left out to be used for breakfast the next morning. While nibbling on an apple, he stared out the window in the dark night and wondered how much longer it would be before he was found out.

_No, I can't think that way. If I do, then it really will be over._

He'd noticed little Harry eyeing him the other day, as though the boy had actually remembered him. But, luckily, Harry's attention span hadn't run any further than what he and Ron were doing that day.

James had been over a few times as well. And every time, the rat hid under Percy's bed until he was sure his former friend had gone. James was the last person he wanted to see, and would probably be the first one to recognize him for who he really was.

Wormtail would have to formulate a plan, something he hadn't really had much practice in. The only plan he'd ever formed and carried out was the one to help his master take care of the Potters. That was something he wasn't proud of, something that had gone wrong. He and the Dark Lord had gone to Godric's Hollow for Harry and James, but James hadn't been there, and Harry had survived. Lily wasn't supposed to be hurt. She'd even had a chance to escape, but she'd been so determined to save her son…

Maybe there was a way for Wormtail to correct his backfired plan. He wasn't sure how just yet, but he was certain that with some careful thinking and formulating, he could come up with something. Regardless of what his friends at Hogwarts used to think, he wasn't as stupid as he seemed. After all, he had kept a rather large secret from three of the smartest wizards in his year…

**--------------------------------------------------**

**AN: **Wow... It's been about eight months, maybe more, since I've updated this. I hadn't realized it'd been this long. I'm so sorry, guys! But I hope this chapter makes up for my lack of updates a little bit. Please review. Take care!

p.s. This is posted on my bio page as well, but if anyone is interested, I've now got a MySpace page. The link is on my bio page under the "homepage" link. Check it out, add me as a friend and I'll add you as well. I'm planning on using the blog as updates on how the chapters are coming, etc. I hope to see a few of you there!


	13. Revelations

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Thirteen_

Harry woke with a start and a strangled yell. He sat up in his bed, panting heavily, and wiped the cold sweat from his face. Still frightened of what happened in the dream, hoping it wouldn't happen in real life, the boy got out of bed and went to his window, looking out on the acres of land his father had bought. The moon was nearly full, and Harry knew that in a few days he'd be going to stay with the Weasleys for the night while his father and Sirius spent the night with Remus, making sure he didn't hurt himself too badly.

With a sigh far too heavy for a six-year-old, Harry left his room and made his way to his father's office, where James had been spending a very large amount of his free time. The light was on and the door was slightly ajar. Slowly, Harry pushed it open and found his father bent over the desk with an envelope he took everywhere and a pile of rolled parchment.

"Dad?" Harry said quietly.

James snapped his head up quickly. "Hey, kiddo," he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "What're you doing up?"

Harry shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," he lied. The last time his father found out about his nightmare, he'd made a big deal out of it, and even involved his friends. Harry didn't want to worry his father anymore. "What are you doing?"

"Just some work," James replied. "Come on over, Harry, come sit with me…"

Harry smiled a little and went over to the desk, climbing into his father's lap. He looked over at the stack of photographs James and his friends studied so often. "Can I see your pictures?"

"No," James said quickly. "They're… nothing important – just work stuff."

Harry knew he was lying, but didn't say anything. "Can we go to Remus' bookshop tomorrow?"

"We'll see, Harry. I have some things to do at the Ministry, so you'll have to go to the Burrow for a bit. But you and I can go out when I get home – maybe to Quality Quidditch Supplies. You're Quaffle seems a bit flat."

The boy sighed again. "Okay," he responded.

James stood with Harry in his arms and carried the boy back to his bedroom. Once Harry was settled and tucked in, James lay beside him, staring at the ceiling, thinking.

"You know, Harry, I'm really sorry I've been kind of preoccupied over the last few weeks. It's just that some things… well, something has come to my attention, and I've been trying to figure it out."

"What things?" Harry asked, snuggling up against his father.

James sighed. "Well, it's nothing you need to worry about. It's something that I became obsessed with, even though I shouldn't have. I thought it was important that I figure out what it all meant, and while I was doing that, I didn't realize how much time I was losing with you. And, Harry, nothing is more important to me than you. You know that, right?" He looked down at his son and found he was sound asleep, his head resting on James' chest. The wizard smiled. "Good night, Harry." He got comfortable in Harry's bed as much as he could without waking his boy up, and fell asleep.

* * *

Next morning, Sirius arrived at the Potter home, wondering why James hadn't shown up for work. It'd been nearly three hours since James was supposed to be in Auror Headquarters, and no one had heard from him. Sirius unlocked the door with the Muggle key James had given him and Remus, and entered. 

"James? Harry?" he called into the house.

"Shh!" he heard from the living room.

Sirius raised an eyebrow and entered said room, finding Harry on the sofa with a bowl of cereal watching television. "Hey, kiddo, where's your dad?"

"Sleeping," Harry replied. "I don't think he's been sleeping lately."

The Auror sighed. "I don't think so, either, Harry. Is he in his room?"

Harry shook his head. "No, my room."

With another raised eyebrow, Sirius turned and headed up the stairs to Harry's room. He nearly burst out laughing when he spotted his best friend on the small, child-sized bed. James had one leg keeping him steady while his head rested on the headboard using an arm for a pillow. Not to mention he was drooling down his chin.

Grinning mischievously, Sirius approached the bed. He thought for a moment before withdrawing his wand from his back pocket. "_Mobilicorpus!"_ he whispered, levitating his best friend's body out of Harry's room and into the bathroom. He lowered James into the bathtub, then turned on the cold water, allowing it to drench the other wizard.

James woke with a surprised scream. It took him a minute to get his bearings, but he finally spotted Sirius grinning like a maniac. Glaring, James reached up to turn off the water, and carefully stood up in the tub. "You are the biggest git in the world."

"So you've been saying since we were five," Sirius said, still grinning.

James shook his head, got out of the tub, and grabbed a towel, trying to dry off. "Why did you see reason to do that?"

"Because Mad-Eye's pissed that you aren't at work. You were supposed to help out with the Nott case."

"Oh, bloody hell! I forgot! What time is it?

Sirius looked at his watch. "Eleven-thirty," he said lightly.

Cursing, James pushed Sirius out of the way and ran down to his own bedroom.

Chuckling, Sirius went back downstairs to the kitchen where he grabbed a bottle of Butterbeer from the fridge and went in the living room to the fireplace. Harry's attention was still glued to the television. After throwing in a handful of Floo Powder, Sirius said, "Lupin's Imports, Diagon Alley," and stuck his head in.

Once the spinning stopped, and the dizziness passed, Sirius was staring at the backroom of Remus' shop. "Remus!" he called. It took a good five minutes for the werewolf to enter the backroom, but finally, Sirius spotted his other best friend out of the corner of his eye.

"Hey, what's going on?" Remus asked, kneeling to Sirius' level.

"James slept in late, and we've got to send Harry somewhere. All right if he comes to the shop?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged. "Fine by me. But since when has James Potter ever been late for work? Normally, he's _early_."

"Yeah, I know. Even Harry has noticed he hasn't been sleeping. I think he's gotten a bit obsessed with those damn photos."

Remus looked uncomfortable. "Speaking of the photos… I need to speak with you about those – in person, without James."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Have you found something out?" he asked slowly.

"You could say that, yes…"

"Right. Well, I'll be sending Harry along shortly. Just waiting for James to finish getting ready for work."

Remus nodded as Sirius pulled his head from the fire. What could Remus have found out that he looked that nervous about? And why couldn't James know about it? Sirius hoped deep down that whatever information Remus had meant the photos weren't of Wormtail. Because Sirius knew what it would mean if they truly were of their former friend: it would mean James would be missing a lot more than just a few hours of work to search for the rat, and Harry would figure out a lot more than his father hadn't been sleeping – Harry was far from stupid.

"All right, you ready, Sirius?" James asked.

Sirius started, realizing he was still kneeling in front of the fireplace. 'Yeah, I'm ready. I just called Remus; he said it's fine for Harry to hang out at the shop until you get off work."

Harry cheered and ran for his backpack.

James chuckled while Sirius raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "I have never, ever met a kid who was so excited to go to a bookshop," he said slowly. "You have raised the oddest child in existence, James, congratulations."

"Thanks," James said, still chuckling. "You head on to the Ministry. I'll take Harry to Remus' and meet you there."

"All right, see you in a bit, then," Sirius said, standing and making his way out of the house and to the point of the Potters' land where Apparition was allowed – about five hundred yards away from the house.

Sirius was going to talk to his best friend about those photos. He knew for a fact James wasn't sleeping unless forced, he hardly ate, and, though he wasn't exactly neglecting his son, he wasn't going out of his way to spend time with him like he usually did. Remus had been right the other night: whatever these photos were, whether of Wormtail or some random rat, it wasn't going to bring Lily back. Sirius wondered sometimes if James believed the photos would, like they were some tool to bring back the dead. At least, he obsessed about them enough to cause his best friend to believe that.

Sirius made it to the edge of the Potters' land, thought of the Ministry of Magic, and disappeared with a _pop_.

* * *

After work that evening, since Dorcas was working an overnight shift at St. Mungo's, Sirius headed straight to Remus' cottage. He entered without knocking, going into the living room, holding back a cheeky grin at the sight that met him. Emmeline and Remus were sitting rather close together on the sofa reading tonight's edition of the _Evening Prophet_. The Auror cleared his throat, attracting the attention of the two. Emmeline smiled at him while Remus glared at the look on Sirius' face. Sirius found it hard to be threatened at the glare since Remus' blush was going down his neck from his cheeks. 

"Hey, Sirius," Emmeline said as the wizard sat. "How're you?"

"I'm all right, Emmeline, and you?" he asked, still grinning at Remus.

"Oh, not bad," she replied, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks as well.

Remus cleared his own throat. "James isn't with you is he?"

"Do you see him?"

Rolling his eyes, Remus stood. "Perhaps we should discuss what we need to discuss in the kitchen. Emmeline's prepared dinner if you're interested, Sirius."

"When am I not interested in food?" Sirius asked rhetorically, following Remus and Emmeline into the kitchen. Silently, he wondered if Emmeline was to be part of this conversation. Sirius had thought the witch knew nothing of the photos, and James would be rather angry if Remus had told her.

Once dinner was served – Emmeline had made spaghetti and meatballs – Remus was silent for a bit, seemingly gathering his thoughts as he began to eat. Finally he sighed and set his fork on the plate. "Last night," he began quietly. "Emmeline told me something. She said she'd been sent some photos of a rat. There was a note enclosed with them that explained exactly what they were."

Sirius' eyebrow rose way past his hairline as he stared openmouthed at Remus, his meatball still an inch from his mouth. He looked over at Emmeline. The witch had an odd, unidentifiable look on her face. "What did this note say? Exactly," he said, with a hint of edge in his tone.

The witch reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a slightly crumpled, folded piece of parchment. Very hesitantly, she passed it over to Sirius.

The Auror unfolded it, knowing both Remus and Emmeline were watching him nervously. He read it silently.

_Dearest Emmeline,_

_Although I know you and I did not part on the best of terms, I have recently come across some information I believe would interest you. I am certain you will take this information to people I am not even close to being fond of, but the information is yours to do with as you please._

_Though I cannot tell you where I received this information – it is for your safety that I keep the names to myself – I recently took delivery of a letter in which the sender informed me that Peter Pettigrew is alive. It is my theory that Pettigrew cut off a finger and ran off into the darkness the night the Potters were murdered. The only other people who know of this are most certainly none too happy with Pettigrew – they believe he was the reason the Dark Lord lost his powers, since it was he who came to him with the Potters' whereabouts. _

_The reason I send you this letter is because I know how close you were with the Potters. As I said, though I know you left England after you and I ended our relationship, and that you weren't fond of me at the time, I believed you deserved to hear this. I have no ulterior motives, so please, do not think that._

_I sincerely hope you are doing well in America. If you ever come back to England, perhaps we can have a cup of tea together as friends. _

_Please take care of yourself._

_Severus Snape_

"No. Bloody. Way." Sirius slowly lowered the parchment, staring at Emmeline. "_When the hell did you date Snape?"_

Emmeline rolled her eyes. "What is it with you and Remus? The letter just said the rat in those photos is Peter, and you're both hung up on the fact that I dated Snape for a few months."

Sirius felt sick. "Please tell me you didn't kiss him," he said, holding his stomach and suddenly wishing he hadn't decided on the second plate of spaghetti. "Is that why you kept saying no to Remus' asking you out–"

"Sirius," Remus said threateningly, glaring hard at his friend. "Now is neither the time, nor the place for that. In fact, I don't think it's any of your business at all."

Sighing, Sirius slumped in his chair. "Fine, you're right," he said, another part of the letter finally registering in his mind. "How does Snape know whoever found out Peter's alive, and why are they angry that he must have been part of _Dark Lord_ disappearing?"

"Think about it," Remus said dully. "We know Peter was a Death Eater. And only Death Eaters would be angry about Voldemort disappearing…"

Sirius' brow furrowed. The meaning of this hit him like a ton of bricks. "Snape's a Death Eater…" he whispered. It shouldn't have really surprised him – Snape was always the type he believed would become a Death Eater – he was more surprised that Snape had been in the Order. Hadn't Dumbledore realized he'd allowed a Death Eater into his ranks?

"He was more than just a Death Eater," Emmeline said quietly. Sirius looked at her. "He was a spy. He'd gone to Dumbledore just after you lot left Hogwarts and joined the Order. He said he had made a mistake in joining Voldemort, and he wanted to do something to help our side. Dumbledore offered to allow him into the Order, but Dumbledore knew Voldemort wasn't going to let Severus just leave the Death Eaters. So Severus offered to spy on Voldemort for the Order, and he was how we received all that information during the war."

Sirius shook his head slowly. "I should've known…" he whispered. "So I suppose one of his Death Eater buddies sent him the pictures? Why?"

Emmeline and Remus both shrugged. "Who knows?" Emmeline said. "Maybe they thought Severus would help them find Peter."

"And is he?"

"Not that I know of," the witch replied. "But then again, apart from this letter, I haven't heard from him in five years."

Sirius sighed just as heavily as he had when he realized he and Remus would have to deal with Lily's funeral. "What do we tell James?" he asked wearily.

"I was hoping you could help us with that," Remus said quietly. "If he finds out that not only are these pictures really of Wormtail, but that Severus Snape is responsible for us finding out this information… Well, I don't know how well he'll take it."

"I don't know, either," Sirius admitted. "He's been obsessing with these goddamned photos nonstop since he received them in the post – I suppose that was your handwriting on the envelope?" He looked at Emmeline who nodded. "And once he hears this, it's going to be even worse."

"Well," Emmeline said quietly, "he has to know, doesn't he?"

Sirius nodded. "By any chance, you don't know where these photos were taken, do you?"

She shook her head. "I was not privy to that information, no."

"Perhaps, just for the time being, the three of us should conduct our own investigations," Remus said slowly. "If we find something, we will tell James. But until that time, I see no reason why he should know anything. And I only say that, because I'm worried about him. I saw him this morning, and I know you did, Sirius, and he looks more exhausted than I've ever seen him. It doesn't look like he's had anything to eat in months, and his goodbye to Harry as he left for the Ministry wasn't nearly as enthusiastic as usual. He hardly hugged the boy before releasing him…"

Sirius sighed again. "That isn't good." He looked around the kitchen. "Moony, you don't have any Firewhiskey, do you? I could really use some right now…"

* * *

Remus Lupin was not having a good day. Regardless of the fact that a very beautiful witch that he was constantly having very interesting dreams about was living with him, he was frustrated and stressed beyond anything he'd ever been. Over the last week, he, Emmeline, and Sirius had been searching areas they knew Peter used to frequent – his former home, his mother's home before her death, the cave in Hogsmeade the Marauders would go when they wanted to drink in secret, and many other places – and there had been absolutely no sign of the rat. Not to mention how difficult it was to find one particular rat amongst millions of others… 

_And it's not as though he's going to just show himself in front of us,_ he thought, staring at the desk of dozens of maps in his bedroom. _If he caught our scent, he'd be gone in a flash. The best we can do is to have Sirius in dog form when we search, but even that isn't helping. _

The three of them had done a very good job thus far at keeping what they were doing from James. The only problem was trying to seem normal – the remaining Marauders met at least every other day, and since Remus, Emmeline, and Sirius were doing their searches every day that they could, they had to find a way to balance their time between James and their new hobby. There had been a few nights this week when they would leave James' home and go to some forest to let Sirius sniff around bushes and dig in holes until the early morning hours.

There was a knock at his door before it opened slowly. "Remus, are you decent?" Emmeline's amused voice asked.

Remus smiled and stood up from where he leaned over the desk. He bit back a cheeky response of "it depends, do you want me to be?" and said, "Yes, come on in."

The witch entered with a smile that made Remus' stomach jump into his throat. She carried his mother's silver tray with tea, teacups, and chocolate biscuits. "I thought you might like a break," she said, glancing at the map-covered desk.

"Oh, yes, I'd love you–" He broke off, his eyes widening. Blushing in places he didn't know one could blush, he corrected himself. "–_one_! Er, I'd love one… Uh, a break, I mean." Wanting nothing more than to crawl into a hole and die in embarrassment, Remus turned back to his desk and busied himself by very slowly rolling up the maps. When he turned back to Emmeline some ten minutes later, she turned her head away so quickly he wondered how it was she hadn't broken her neck. "You can, er, put that tray on the desk, if you still want to…"

Emmeline nodded and awkwardly passed him to set the tray down.

He sat down on the bed while she took the desk chair, neither of them looking at the other. "I'm sorry I said that," he said very quietly. He began to say "I didn't mean it," but he and his friends all knew damn well he did. Hell, Emmeline probably knew it.

"It's all right," she said just as quietly. "Tea?"

Gulping, Remus nodded. "Please."

Silently, she poured the tea, mixing in milk, sugar, and lemon with her wand, just how he liked it. She passed it to him along with a small plate of three biscuits.

"Thank you," he said to her, wishing for nothing more than for her to look at him.

"You're welcome," she said in a slightly stiff voice. After what seemed like hours, but could only have been minutes, Emmeline said so quietly that Remus never would have heard it if he hadn't had excellent hearing due to being a werewolf, "Are you really sorry for saying that?"

Remus chewed his biscuit slowly. He knew the true answer to that question, but he was more nervous than he'd ever been in his life to give _her_ the answer. She was the only woman he'd been honestly interested in… ever. And if she reacted negatively… well, he'd be more than heartbroken. "Do you want to know the truth?" he whispered into his teacup. He looked up just in time to see her nod and quickly looked back down to his cup. "No. I am not sorry for that slipup." Again, he looked up at her, finding she was looking at him with a blank expression. He found himself wanting to suddenly tell her everything. He looked into her eyes; hers bore into his. "In all honesty, Emmeline, I think I've loved you since the day I met you. I could never tell you, because I knew you knew about what I was, and I was afraid that if I asked you out to dinner or a movie or something, that you'd shoot me down. And if you would have shot me down, Emmeline, I don't know that I would have taken it very well. I've never been good with girls – _women_, I mean – that was always James and Sirius. I'd been out on a few dates in school that those two setup, but they never worked out. I never _let_ them work out. But for you, I would have made an effort.

"The reason I reacted the way I did when you told me about your dating Severus was because that was the when I'd finally been ready to ask you out. I wasn't reacting to Severus; I was reacting to the fact that I had no idea you were seeing _anybody_." He sighed shakily when she didn't reply. "Look, I understand if you want to run out of here and never speak to me again. I only thought you should know how I feel before you left."

Finally, she nodded a little, sat down her teacup, and left the room.

Remus stared at her retreating back and seconds later at his closed bedroom door, his eyes stinging painfully as tears filled them. Why did he have to tell her? Why couldn't he have just kept it to himself, like he'd been doing since she started staying with him?

_Because I'm a total moron_, he told himself miserably, falling backwards on his bed, not caring that a very huge book was beneath his back.

* * *

It was nearing two in the morning before Remus finally exited his bedroom to put the tea and tea tray back in the kitchen. He nearly dropped everything he held when he found Emmeline sitting at the kitchen table. She turned around when she heard him enter. 

"Hi," she said quietly, looking at his knee.

"Hello," he responded, going to the counter and busying himself with washing the dishes in the sink. He was attempting to keep her from seeing his bloodshot eyes.

He heard her sigh. "Remus, please turn around. I know you have no interest in doing dishes this late at night…"

After a few moments, he turned and leaned against the counter, his arms crossed, his head down.

"I'm sorry I left the way I did," she began quietly. "I just… I don't know. I knew you were very interested in me before everything happened. To tell you the truth, I'd been interested in you since my fourth year, when Lily and I met, and I started spending time with her, Dorcas, and on occasion, you. I'd always hoped you would ask me out to Hogsmeade. I daydreamed during Prefect meetings about you – things my mother would have most definitely scolded me about." He could hear the small grin in her voice. "But when, by the time I had left Hogwarts and joined the Order, you never expressed any interest in me, I suppose I let what I thought to be my schoolgirl crush go.

"Severus and I began spending time together on Order business towards the end of the war. I found he wasn't nearly as evil as we'd all thought he was. He and I had had a few dinners, and before I knew it, we were a couple. We kept it secret for many reasons – he was a spy for the Order, and if a Death Eater found out we were involved, it would have resulted in our deaths; if someone in the Order found out, they would wonder if perhaps I was a Death Eater, or they would wonder if Severus had prepared a love potion. He didn't, by the way… Anyway, long story short, after a few months, after Lily… well, after we lost her, Dumbledore gave him the job at Hogwarts as potions master. He was a little bitter that he hadn't gotten the Defense position like he'd wanted, and I think that was part of the reason he began to treat me differently – before he'd always been very sweet and surprisingly romantic–" Remus' jaw clenched – why was she telling him this? "–but towards the end of the relationship, he was much shorter with me, and he put his work way above me. He didn't seem to have the time to even go to the Hogwarts kitchens for a bite to eat. I grew tired of it and left.

"I received your owl the morning was to catch a flight to America. Remus, the one in which you asked me to dinner. I wanted to say yes. More than anything. But I couldn't stay in England. There was just too much misery here for me. First I lost two of my best friends, not to mention the friends who'd been in the Order that were killed. I really thought there was a chance Severus and I could have eventually married, as strange as that may be to think about. And then there was you." Remus' head snapped up. "The moment I received your owl, I realized my mistake – I should have been the one to make the first move; it should have been you I'd spent those months, and much longer than that, with. I knew I loved you. And I couldn't stand to admit it. I can't explain it. Though I knew at that moment that I loved you, my heart couldn't handle any more breaking."

She stood from the table and slowly approached him, using a finger to gently raise his chin so that he was looking at her. Then she used both hands to take both of his. "Nothing has changed since I left for America. I still feel very, _very_ strongly for you, Remus. And though I am a bit hesitant to say it because I've never said it to a man… I love you, too."

He couldn't believe his ears. He thought he was dreaming. He had to pull one hand from hers to pinch his shoulder hard. He felt it; it wasn't a dream. "You mean it?" he whispered breathlessly.

She smiled, nodding. "Yes, I do."

Swallowing the huge lump in his throat, breathing heavily due to his racing heart, Remus slowly moved his head closer to her. She closed her eyes in anticipation as his lips drew closer to hers – he could feel her sweet breath on his lips. Finally, after what once again seemed like hours, their lips connected.

* * *

Once again, Sirius was arriving at a friend's house to find out why he had seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet. This time, he was at Remus' cottage. The werewolf hadn't been at his shop when Sirius visited after his lunch at the Leaky Cauldron – it was now four in the afternoon, and the shop still hadn't been open for business. He let himself in, and started searching. His brow furrowed when he didn't find Remus anywhere. Had he gone out? Maybe he was just late opening the shop, and had finally made it. 

His head snapped towards the hallway when he heard Remus say something in a low voice. Rolling his eyes, wondering why Remus had slept in this late in the afternoon, Sirius began down the hall. He vaguely noticed that Emmeline's bedroom door was open, and the witch wasn't in there, but it didn't register. "Moony! What the hell, man?" he said, opening Remus' bedroom door quickly.

There was a shriek of a woman, and Sirius' eyes widened as he saw Emmeline standing in the bedroom next to the desk, naked. "Bloody hell! I'm sorry!" he said, slamming the door shut again. He quickly went back to the kitchen and sat down, blushing deeply.

But once the shock of what he'd just seen had worn off, he was grinning widely, very eager to tell James what it meant for Emmeline to be in Remus' bedroom without any clothes. Fifteen minutes later, Remus' bedroom door opened and closed quickly, and the werewolf himself entered the kitchen looking both embarrassed and angry at the same time.

"Hasn't anyone ever taught you to knock?" Remus yelled. "Get that damn grin off your face, Sirius!"

Chuckling, Sirius shook his head. "Moony, you know I never knock. Why should today have been any different? Congratulations, by the way," he said lightly. "It seems you've gotten yourself a very nice looking woman."

Remus' glare deepened, though Sirius thought he'd seen his friend's lips twitching a tiny bit. "Why are you here?"

"Just wanted to check on you," Sirius answered. "I went by your shop after lunch and you weren't there. I'd wondered if you'd been hurt or something." He grinned widely again. "But obviously, it was something much better."

"If you don't shut up," Remus warned, "I am going to curse you worse than I ever have."

Sirius raised his hands in defense. "All right, all right, don't get your knickers in a twist. You aren't wearing knickers, are you? Didn't put on Emmeline's by mistake?"

Remus pulled out his wand and pointed it at Sirius. "Out. Now."

Rolling his eyes, Sirius stood. "Fine," he said. "Are we still doing our little search tonight?" He began towards the door with Remus right behind him, his wand still pointed at Sirius.

"We'll see," Remus said evenly. "I suppose it would depend on if Emmeline wants to face you."

Sirius had to bite his lip so hard he drew blood to hold back any more remarks. "Well, I'll be at home or James'. Send a Patronus – wherever I am, I'll get it."

"Right," Remus said shortly. "Goodbye, Sirius."

"See you, Moony," Sirius replied, still wearing his cheeky grin. With a sly wink, he Disapparated.

* * *

On Saturday afternoon, Harry was making his way to the Burrow with his overnight bag on one shoulder and his broomstick on the other. Tonight was the full moon, and his dad would have to go to Remus' cottage with Sirius to help keep Remus from hurting himself. Harry liked the full moon nights. One reason was that he liked looking at the moon; he thought it was pretty. The other reason was that when he went to the Burrow on the full moon, he, Ron, the twins, and Bill and Charlie, when they weren't at school, would sneak out late at night and sneak to the orchard to play Quidditch – 

Harry stopped in his tracks as he heard something rustling in the bushes. He looked over on the left side of the path through the forest between his home and the Weasleys, and stared. He couldn't see anything.

_Must've been a deer or something,_ Harry thought hopefully, speeding up his walk towards the Weasley home.

The next time he heard the rustling, it was much closer to the edge of the path than it had been before. Harry looked over again, knowing that if the animal or whatever it was had been that close, he should have seen it. He gulped when he didn't see anything yet again and began to run. Whatever had been in the bushes seemed to have come out onto the path, and now Harry could hear heavy footsteps behind him, running. Harry lowered his broomstick from his shoulder, still running flat out, and jumped on it, flying straight up into the trees, not caring that the tops of the trees were so close together that he would not get into the sky without sustaining cuts and scrapes.

But Harry didn't even make it to the tops of the trees. He felt something hit him in the back and he lost his grip on his broomstick, slumping over and falling to the ground.

* * *

**AN:** My most sincere apologies for not updating anything in forever. To make up for this, I've decided to update _Unforeseen_ and _Prologue_. Please review. You all know I like my reviews!! 


	14. Searching

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Fourteen_

An hour before moonrise on the full moon night, James was preparing to leave his home and Apparate to Remus'. He'd been looking forward to this all week; he needed something to get his mind off everything else that was going on in his life, and a full moon with his two best friends was the perfect time. Over the years it began to take much less force to keep Remus in check when he had transformed into a werewolf. And since their graduation from Hogwarts, the Marauders spent their full moon nights in the woods behind Remus' home in Kent. It was the perfect place for a werewolf and two large Animagi to spend their time; there were no neighbors any closer than at least fifty miles away, and there was still plenty of the area they had yet to explore.

James had his hand on the front door knob when he heard a loud, double beep from his fireplace – it was the signal that told him someone was Flooing him. Curious, wondering if it was Sirius checking to see where he was, James entered the living room. He resisted the urge to raise an eyebrow when he saw Molly Weasley's head in the green flames.

"Oh, James, good, you're still home," she said, smiling. The Weasleys knew that once a month, James went away to somewhere Harry couldn't join him, but they had no idea why.

James kneeled in front of the redhead's head. "Hey, there, Molly, what's Harry done now?" he asked, smiling.

"Well, I wouldn't know as you haven't sent him over yet…" Molly replied. "I'd wondered if he was going to be here soon, we're about to sit down to dinner."

This time, James did raise an eyebrow. "Molly, I sent Harry over about an hour ago," he said slowly, trying to keep his heart from beating so quickly that it burst from its chest. "He should have been there."

Molly paled, and James tried to ignore the slightly panicked look that crossed her face.

"Are you sure he hasn't gone to play Quidditch with your boys?" James asked.

"I'm certain, all the children are in the sitting room right now," Molly told him.

Hundreds of horrible thoughts passed through his mind in a span of about ten seconds, each one worst than the last. James gulped. "Well, I'll head out and see if I can find him, then," he said, trying to keep his voice steady.

"He can't have gone anywhere else, could he?"

James shook his head. "No, he only knows your children around here. Well, and Luna Lovegood, but I really don't see Harry spending a lot of time with her without Ron and Ginny."

The look on Molly's face was a cross between pity and fear. "Well, you'll contact me when you find him, won't you?"

"Yeah, of course," James replied. "Go enjoy your dinner, Molly. I'll make sure Harry gets there tonight."

With another look of worried pity, Molly's head disappeared from his fireplace. Finally, James was free to allow his body to fall to the carpet. Harry never strayed further than the Burrow. He knew the path like the back of his hand and he could walk it in his sleep. Unless he just decided to go for a fly without telling anybody, in which case, he would be in major trouble when James found him. Harry knew better than to wander off.

Grabbing the Floo powder in the jar on the mantle, James threw a pinch into the still green flames, called Remus' address, and stuck his head inside. Once the spinning stopped, he called for Sirius and Remus. Sirius was the first to respond.

"Prongs! Why aren't you here yet?" Sirius asked, looking slightly irritated. "We've been waiting–"

"I think Harry may be missing," James said quickly, not caring that his friends were waiting for him. "Molly Weasley just Flooed – Harry hasn't arrived at the Burrow yet."

Remus entered the living room. The moon would rise soon; Remus' entire body was chalk-white, and he seemed to have trouble keeping himself in an upright position. "Harry's missing?" he asked very hoarsely. "How could Harry be missing?"

James shook his head. "I don't know, but I need to go look for him. I'm not going to make it over there until I have."

"Don't worry about it," Sirius said, his own complexion slowly fading to match Remus'. "You want a bit of help?"

Again, James shook his head. "No, you stay with Remus. I'll contact you when–"

"No," Remus said quickly and forcefully as he could manage. "Sirius, you go help James, you'll be able to cover more ground that way. You might even consider calling Dorcas and Emmeline – they're both at Sirius' and Dorcas' for the night. I'll be fine."

James and Sirius both looked at him skeptically. "You're sure?" Sirius asked.

"Yeah, Moony, I can do this on my own, and if I call the girls, I'll have help–" James began.

"No," Remus repeated. "Take Sirius. Harry is more important than Sirius and me wandering the forests. I don't mind spending the night in the basement. And once you find Harry, you'll be back here."

Hesitating to agree – both Sirius and James knew what would happen if they left Remus alone; they'd seen the results many times during their time at Hogwarts – Sirius finally nodded. "All right, I'll go. But we'll be back as soon as we get Harry to the Weasleys."

Remus nodded. "All I ask is that you lock the basement door until morning."

"I'll be over in a minute, Prongs," Sirius said, following Remus to the basement.

James pulled his head from the fireplace. He'd let Sirius call Dorcas – he didn't feel like explaining what was going on to anyone else at the moment. Just to make certain Harry wasn't at home, James searched the house, every room, until he was realized it was indeed empty.

Just as he finished checking a high shelf in the upstairs linen cabinet (one of Harry's favorite hiding spots when he and his father played hide-and-seek), James heard a familiar female voice call his name from downstairs.

_Guess Sirius already contacted Dorcas and Emmeline…_ James thought vaguely, heading downstairs, taking the steps two at a time.

When he reached the living room, both women were searching for him. "Sirius contacted you, I take it?" James said hoarsely, making both witches jump as they looked into the kitchen. Usually he would have grinned at their jumpiness, but he couldn't manage it.

Emmeline nodded. "All he said was that we needed to get over here. What's going on?"

James ran a shaky hand through his hair. "Harry's missing. He was supposed to go to the Burrow for the night while I went to Remus', but Molly Weasley–"

He was interrupted when his fireplace erupted in flames again and Sirius stepped neatly out. "Good, you're both here," he said to Dorcas and Emmeline. "How do we want to do this, Prongs? You know these woods better than we do…"

James sighed. "Well, we can split up and take different areas, I suppose. Like I told Molly, I really don't see Harry wandering off; he knows better."

The four friends decided to split into groups of two – James and Emmeline, and Sirius and Dorcas, so that there was an Auror with each witch in case something bad happened. James tried not to think that his son was abducted, but it was the one theory that stayed firmly in his mind.

"Well, let's get going," Sirius said, watching James very closely. "The sun will be going down soon, and we'll need as much light as we can get."

James nodded, the idea that his son was missing finally beginning to sink in. How could he have let Harry go to the Burrow alone? If only he, James, had decided to walk him over, or made him Floo…

A hand touched his arm, making James jump a little. He turned to Emmeline. "It'll be fine," she said quietly, leading him out of the kitchen door to the backyard.

_God, I hope she's right…_

* * *

"HARRY!" Sirius bellowed into the woods looking all around the paths of the forest for his godson.

"Sirius?" Dorcas said as they walked. The Auror looked over to his girlfriend. "You don't think Harry's been kidnapped, do you?"

He sighed. "I don't know," he said heavily. "It's possible, I suppose. I told you about the Wormtail thing… This could be connected to that in some way…"

Dorcas nodded and didn't say anything else. She knew what it would do to James if someone had taken his son. He'd be just as devastated as when Lily died. Harry was James' life. Everything James did revolved around his son, and if something happened to Harry while he was missing, James would undoubtedly blame himself, just as he had when Lily was murdered.

"I never realized how really big these woods are," Sirius said, shining the light of his wand through the trees and scanning the area slowly. "It'll take us hours to search all this…"

"Do you think we might be able to call in a team of Aurors to help out?" she asked. "We'd be able to cover a hell of a lot more ground than we are now."

"Not a bad idea, actually…" Sirius said thoughtfully. He raised his wand and performed the Patronus message charm. Both Sirius and Dorcas watched his eagle-Patronus soar off into the woods, searching for James. "I definitely don't think he'll object to getting more help."

The witch waited with her love, thinking of some of the worst case scenarios that could be happening to Harry right now. She banished the images that depicted Harry being tortured or even killed and tried to block her mind from thinking anything. She loved Harry as much as Sirius, Remus, and Emmeline did, and she would do whatever it took to bring him home safely.

_But right now, we need to calm down. James is probably going mental, even though he's acting like none of this is bothering him. I suppose that's his Auror training kicking in. _

Her thoughts were abruptly cut off when James' tiger-Patronus returned with a message.

"He's contacting Mad-Eye to get Aurors out here. He wants us to meet him back at the house to wait for them," Sirius told her.

Dorcas raised an eyebrow. "James wants to wait while his son is missing?" she asked disbelievingly.

Sirius shrugged. "I think he knows it's better to have a huge team looking rather than just the four of us."

"If it was our kid, I'd be going mental, and I know you would, too…"

He raised an eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

She rolled her eyes. "No, Sirius, I am not pregnant. And even if I was, I wouldn't tell you right now; we've got Harry to worry about."

The couple began to make their way back to James and Harry's home, completely unaware that they were being watched.

* * *

Mad-Eye Moody was in his element, it seemed. James stood beside Sirius, watching his boss split the Aurors and members of the DMLE he'd brought along into groups of four and give out instructions. The Head Auror had thought it a good idea to alert Dumbledore as well, but James hadn't really seen the advantage to this – how was Dumbledore going to speed up the process of finding Harry even more than dozens of witches and wizards were? Regardless of James' skepticism, Emmeline contacted the headmaster, and he was now standing beside Mad-Eye, adding a few last minute instructions. James wasn't listening; he hadn't listened to a word Mad-Eye had said throughout his entire speech. The thoughts that had flooded his mind when he first found out his son wasn't where he was supposed to be (he didn't want to admit Harry was actually missing just yet) were still keeping him from paying attention to anything and everything around him.

Sirius clapped him on the back and James started back to reality, noticing the groups were starting their search. James made to follow them when Mad-Eye called him back.

"Potter, hang on!" Mad-Eye and Dumbledore made their way to James and his friends. "I'm not sure it's the best thing for you right now, being out there." James narrowed his eyes dangerously; Sirius took a large step to the side. "I know you want to help look for your boy, but we've got this under control, and last thing we need is a worried father getting all worked up."

"Worked up?" James asked in a low voice, sounding much calmer than he felt. "Mad-Eye, my six-year-old son is missing, he's possibly been kidnapped, and you're worried about me getting _worked up_?"

"James, maybe Mad-Eye's right–" Sirius began. He stopped speaking immediately at the look on James' face.

"I'm not debating this with you, Potter," Mad-Eye said, starting to walk away. "Get in your house, and we'll let you know what we find out. That's an order."

James glared until Mad-Eye and Dumbledore were out of sight. He started back into his house, muttering angrily under his breath.

"You want a drink, Prongs?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"No, I don't want a goddamned drink, Sirius, I want to find my son," James snapped.

Sirius sighed and sat at the table with Emmeline and Dorcas. "Look, I understand you're upset," he said quietly. "But snapping at us isn't going to do anything to find Harry any faster."

Again, James glared at his friends for a moment before leaving the kitchen and making his way to his bedroom.

* * *

"You know, I half expected James to ignore Mad-Eye," Dorcas said around sunrise. "He's never had a problem with disobeying authority before."

Sirius looked at her, his head resting on his folding arms. "I think he's in a bit of shock right now," he said sleepily. "Any other time, James would have been out there and would deal with whatever punishment Mad-Eye gave him later."

"Well, I hope the Aurors get back soon," Emmeline said, trying to suppress a yawn. "And I hope they have good news."

But Sirius turned his head to her, his face looking grim. "I'm not all that certain Harry's anywhere near here. He would never stay out all night unless he was forced to. Harry's a hell of a lot like James; though he won't listen to a lot of authority figures, he'll always listen to his father. And James has told him a hundred times to never stay out past sundown."

Dorcas started to say something when the alarm for the fireplace went off. Emmeline raised an eyebrow as Sirius stood to investigate. "Who could that be?" she asked, glancing at her watch. "It's six-thirty in the morning…"

Her question was answered moments later when Sirius returned to the kitchen followed closely by Remus. He must have just transformed: he was still pale and slightly weak as he fell into his chair; his bandages over his many wounds had been placed haphazardly; and he didn't seem all that certain where he was.

"Where's Harry?" he asked, his voice very hoarse.

Sirius shrugged as he got Remus a glass of cold water. "No clue," he replied. "Mad-Eye and Dumbledore have a team of Aurors out in the forest searching for him. They should be back any minute; they've been out there for twelve hours already."

"Cheers," Remus muttered, sipping the water and looking around the kitchen. He lowered his glass, a brow forming a slight frown. "Where's James?"

"Pouting upstairs," Sirius answered. At Remus' raised eyebrow, he went on, "Mad-Eye ordered him to stay in the house while they went out to search."

Remus winced; Emmeline wasn't sure whether it was from what Sirius said or from his injuries. "Well, I think Mad-Eye may have been right…" He trailed off, looking out the window. "Looks like they've come back."

Sirius snapped his head to the window. Indeed, Mad-Eye and Dumbledore were leading a large group of tired looking witches and wizards out of the forest and into the backyard. The wizards in the lead continued on to the house. Sirius opened the door for them. "Well?" he demanded.

"Nothing," Mad-Eye said heavily. "Dumbledore reckons the boy disappeared 'bout an hour before you contacted us, Black."

"Disappeared?" Remus asked sharply. "Disappeared, as in…"

"Vanished," Dumbledore said quietly. "Harry's trace leads us just to the border of James' property and that of the Weasley family. Beyond that, there is no sign of him."

"Bloody hell…" Sirius breathed, feeling as weak as Remus looked. "So how do we find him?"

"Once we have sent the Aurors and Magical Law Enforcement officials back to the Ministry, Alastor and I will perform charms we believe may give us a clue as to where Harry may have been taken."

"But you don't know if they'll work?" Sirius asked, knowing the answer already.

"Unfortunately–" Dumbledore began. He was cut off by James' entrance into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" James asked slowly, looking disheveled, his eyes very bloodshot. He looked at each person in the kitchen in turn. "Well? Did you find my son?"

Everyone looked at each other, clueless as to how to reply. Sirius finally sighed deeply and stood. "Er, James, perhaps you and I should talk in the other room…"

"I'll join you," Remus said hastily, standing unsteadily and slowly making his way over to his friends.

Once James was seated in the living room, Remus and Sirius looked at each other, still completely clueless.

"Well?" James demanded. "Why couldn't you tell me in the kitchen with everyone else?"

"Because once we tell you," Remus began blandly, "we only wish for the two of us to be hexed into oblivion rather than everyone else."

Hesitantly, Sirius began telling his best friend what Mad-Eye and Dumbledore told everyone else. James' expression was blank the entire time, and Sirius wasn't sure what to make of it. By the end of the news breaking, Sirius was becoming quite fearful of the moment James would finally explode and start yelling. But that moment never came; James only nodded and said very quietly, "I didn't expect anything different."

Remus sighed. "James, we're going to do whatever it takes to find Harry. He'll be just fine, you'll see."

"How could you possibly know that?" James asked, sounding like every word and breath he took was costing him something painful. "He could be in horrible pain right now, and there's nothing I can do to help him. It's just like when Lily died and I was at Hogwarts: I wasn't there to help her, and I lost her…"

"James," Sirius said very quietly. "This isn't the same as that. We can still find and save Harry."

But James shook his head and let it rest on the back of the sofa, obviously deep in thought. Remus and Sirius exchanged a look that mutually said they were in deep this time, and barely had time to look away from the other before Emmeline poked her head in.

"Dumbledore and Mad-Eye have gone back into the forest," she said, glancing sadly at James. "They say if we still want, we can come out and help search we can." She hesitated for long moments. "But they don't think we'll find anymore…" She looked hastily at James for his reaction. He didn't seem to be listening.

Remus nodded and stood. "Sirius, I think we should do our own search. I know there's no way we'll find Harry right now, but… I don't know… I just think you should sniff around a bit, if you catch my meaning."

It took Sirius a moment to cotton on, but finally, realization hit him. "Right," he said. "Er, James, we'll be back in a bit…"

James still wasn't listening.

Sighing, Sirius led Remus, Emmeline, and Dorcas out into the forest where he transformed into dog form and began sniffing the trail Harry took to the Weasleys.

* * *

Harry woke abruptly. At first, he was confused; he didn't know where he was – he knew it wasn't his house or the Burrow. Finally, he started to remember. This had been the second time he'd woken in this strange place. The first had been hours ago, he felt, and the first thing he'd seen was a tall man with blond hair talking with another man standing in the shadows. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but something told him these men weren't here to help him. When the blond-haired man glanced over at him, Harry had closed his eyes very quickly; he didn't want them to know he was awake.

Now, it seemed, he was alone in the room. He sat up on the fairly comfortable bed and looked around as best he could; the room was very dark. When his eyes finally adjusted, Harry saw that it looked like a child's room. It wasn't quite like his room at home, but it seemed close. Instead of the red walls he had, the color on the walls was a deep green and there were silver snakes all over the place. There was a toy box at the end of the bed; Harry had the desire to explore it, but knew better; his father wouldn't think much of him opening something in a strange place – something bad could come out of it.

Just as Harry had the thought to look out the window to see where he was, the door began to open. Very quickly, Harry threw himself back on the bed and pretended to sleep, his eyes open just enough to see who'd come in. It was the same blond man he'd seen earlier. The man stood at the end of the bed and stared at Harry for a few minutes. Harry's heart pounded; was the man going to hurt him? But the man finally left the room and closed the door with a small click. Harry sighed in relief.

_But how do I get home? The man will probably be watching me and the door. If I leave, he'll catch me… _Harry bit his lip, feeling tears filling his eyes. _I want my dad…_

* * *

Remus, Emmeline, and Dorcas followed Sirius down the path at a distance of about twenty feet. None of them had any real hope of finding anything more than the Aurors had, but they were all determined to do what they could for James and Harry.

"How're you feeling?" Emmeline asked Remus quietly as they walked.

He shrugged, his hands in his pockets. "I've felt worse." He gave her a wan smile. "But so long as I focus on something else, I'll be all right."

She nodded and continued to watch Sirius sniff bushes and dirt.

Remus was about to call for Sirius to come back, to tell him they should get back to James, when Sirius stopped very suddenly and began growling very threateningly. Remus knew if he'd been in human form, those growls would be curses.

"Sirius, what…"

But Sirius had shot off through the trees. They could hear him still growling. They went down the path at a run; Sirius was ahead of them in the trees. Finally, the Animagus shot out of some bushes, still growling, and transformed. Sure enough, he was now muttering curses, some Remus had never heard. He shot a look at Emmeline and Dorcas; both witches looked quite confused.

"What did you find?" Dorcas asked carefully.

Sirius didn't answer. He stood from the ground and continued to run to the end of the path where he stopped, panting.

"If you don't tell us what's going on…" Remus began. Sirius looked at him with an expression of pure hatred. "What is it?"

"Wormtail," Sirius growled, pointing ahead of him.

Remus' brows shot up as he followed Sirius' finger. His jaw dropped. They were about a hundred feet from the Burrow.

* * *

Molly Weasley was busy baking, her mind quite preoccupied. Last night, after she'd finished speaking with James, she'd had to come up with an excuse as to why Harry wouldn't be coming over to stay – she couldn't tell her children that their friend was missing; she didn't want them to worry. But the boys seemed to accept that Harry wasn't feeling well, and his father had decided to keep him home. Through the night, however, Molly had worried about where the child could possibly be. She felt horrible for James; how much more horrible news could one man take? First his wife, now his son…

There was a bang in the living room, followed by silence, then loud laughter. Sighing and closing her eyes, praying for patience, Molly went into the living room to find Fred and George had somehow made Ron's hair disappear – her youngest son was currently completely bald.

"What did you two do?" she screamed at the twins, who were now rolling on the floor with laughter. Ron seemed rather confused. "You two are the limit, do you know that?" She kneeled in front of Ron, running her hand across his naked head, and sighed, shaking her head. She had to admit, only to herself, of course, that the twins, whatever they'd done, had done a rather good job of it. Using her wand and a simple charm, she reversed what they'd done. Ron's red hair was back in place.

"What'd they do?" Ron asked, confused.

Molly smiled. "Nothing, dear. Don't worry about…" She trailed off when she heard a knock on the door. "You two stay out of trouble for five minutes," she said sharply to Fred and George, before heading off to the back door to see who was visiting.

"Oh, hello," she said in surprise, looking at the group outside her door. Remus Lupin was at the front with Sirius Black beside him, and Dorcas Meadowes and Emmeline Vance closely behind them. She couldn't think of what they could be here for. Unless… "Have you found out anything about Harry?" she asked, her heart beating.

"Unfortunately not," Remus said quietly, with a small smile. Molly thought he looked very sick and exhausted, but didn't comment. "I wonder, Molly, if we could come in for a moment?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Molly said, scolding herself. "Where are my manners? Come in, please, take a seat… Would any of you care for a cup of tea?" Before they could reply, she began bustling around the kitchen, preparing tea and a small snack for them to munch on. Once she'd finished, she took her full tray to the table and sat beside Emmeline. "Please, help yourself." She had the feeling they only took the tea and biscuits to be polite – something else was on their minds. Sirius looked very angry, while Emmeline and Dorcas glanced at him fearfully. Remus didn't seem affected by Sirius' mood. "So, what brings you all here?"

Remus hesitated, taking a long sip of his tea before speaking. "Molly, what I have to say may sound very odd, but I assure you, your answers are very important to us, and possibly to you…"

"Okay…" Molly said slowly, feeling bemused.

Remus bit his lip, glancing sideways at Sirius. "Molly, do you have rats?" Remus asked bluntly.

Taken aback, Molly choked on her tea a bit. "Rats?" she choked. "Well, no…" Then she realized that wasn't exactly truthful. "My son Percy has a pet rat, Scabbers, but I'm not aware of any other rats in my home… I suppose there are a few in the garden…"

"May we see this rat – Scabbers, did you call him? – may we see him?" Remus asked, sitting up straighter in his chair, looking very alert now.

Her brow furrowed, Molly looked at each of them. They were looking nervous and excited at the same time. "Well, I suppose you could… Might I ask what this is about?"

"It's a bit of a long story," Emmeline answered carefully. "We'll explain everything, if we can see the rat first."

"Certainly," Molly said, feeling more confused than before. She stood and went to the stairs. "Percy!" she called loudly.

Her third oldest exited his bedroom and stood at the edge of the staircase. "Yes, Mother?" he asked.

"Could you bring Scabbers down here for a moment, please?" Molly asked, wondering the entire time if this meeting with James Potter's friends could become even stranger.

"Scabbers?" Percy said blankly. "Why?"

"I just need to see him for a moment, Percy," Molly replied. "Please."

Percy nodded and reentered his bedroom. After a few minutes, Percy came back out, his brow furrowed. "I can't find him. He was on my pillow this morning, now he's gone…"

Sighing, Molly nodded. "Thank you, dear." And she went back to the kitchen. "Percy says Scabbers isn't in his room," she told the group at her table. "He says the rat was there earlier, but now he's not…"

Remus closed his eyes tightly while Sirius' jaw clenched tightly. She really couldn't see why the news about Scabbers would affect them like this. Why would they care about her son's rat?

"Thank you, Molly," Remus said quietly, obviously forcing a polite smile. "We must head back to James'. Thank you for the tea."

As they left, Molly Weasley was left behind felling far more confused than she'd ever been in her life.

* * *

**AN:** Don't have a heart attack... Yes, I've updated very soon after my last update, or at least much more quickly than I usually do. Now that I've finished Resolutions, it seems my writer's block for this story has been unblocked. So, now they know Wormtail has been at the Burrow. What will happen next? Well, I don't really know at the moment. But stay tuned. Next chance I get, you'll get another update! Please review!! 


	15. Further Setbacks

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Fifteen_

"Five years!" Sirius yelled as he and his friends returned to James' home. "Five _goddamned_ _years!_ That bastard has been hiding out just miles from James and Harry and none of us noticed! How is that bloody possible?"

Shaking his head, feeling the effects of his very recent transformation more than ever, Remus sighed. "I don't know," he whispered. "James has been there hundreds of times for dinners… Hell, you and I have been there, Sirius. I suppose he just hid out until he knew we were gone."

"We need to tell James," Dorcas said quietly. "This may have something to do with Harry going missing. It can't be coincidence, can it?"

Nobody responded. Remus fell deep in thought. Why hadn't anyone realized Peter had been hiding out with the Weasleys? Today, Sirius picked up the rat's scent in about ten minutes. Why couldn't that have happened months ago? _Years_ ago?

_Because none of you were looking for him until Emmeline sent those photos, were you?_ his mind asked him. _It's not like you went to the Burrow for tea and began sniffing around for supposed dead ex-best friends. _

"…can't tell him!" Sirius was arguing. "He'll go more mental than he already has, Dorcas! If he even has an _inkling_ that Peter may have had something to do with Harry's disappearance…"

"He has to know," Remus said very quietly, mostly to himself. The others looked at him. "We've been lying to James for too long – he still has no idea Wormtail was really in those photos, nor does he have any idea we've been searching for Wormtail." He shook his head again, clearing the exhaustion that overcame him. "All he wants is to find his son. Once we find Harry, if we've still yet to find Wormtail, we'll deal with it. I don't think James is about to go on a rat hunt while Harry is in danger."

Sirius made to argue, but both Emmeline and Dorcas shot looks at him. He glared at the trees he passed. "Fine," he said very grudgingly. "You want to tell him, Remus, knock yourself out. You just better hope James doesn't knock you out first."

But when they reached the Potter home, Remus didn't make a beeline to the living room to break the news to James as Sirius thought he would. Instead, he pulled Dumbledore aside. If they were to have any chance at finding Harry, there was a good chance they'd find him wherever Wormtail was hidden. And if they were to have a chance at finding Wormtail, they needed more help. So Remus told his mentor everything he knew – from the photos Emmeline had sent to where they believed Wormtail has been for the last five years. The most difficult bit to break was the news that the Marauders had become illegal Animagi during their fifth year at Hogwarts. If Dumbledore had been at all surprised, he hid it quite well, though Remus could sense mingled disappointment and shock, even if only for half a second.

"I appreciate you're honesty, Remus," Dumbledore said once the younger wizard finished speaking. "Though I must ask why you did not confide in me sooner."

"Well, we swore we wouldn't tell anybody about those three becoming Animagi–"

Dumbledore's lips twitched slightly. "I was more referring to Mr. Pettigrew," he said.

Remus smiled apologetically. "It's been a long morning, sir, I'm rather tired."

"It's quite all right, my boy."

"As far as not telling you about Peter… well, until a week or so ago, Sirius and I weren't even certain the photos were of Peter. Before that, James didn't want many people knowing; he's taken these photos very personally."

"Understandable," Dumbledore said, nodding. "If our theories have been correct over the past five years, and Pettigrew was a part of Lily's death, I am certain any information pertaining to her murderers would be quite important to him. I will do what I can with this information. Perhaps a chat with Severus Snape is in order… Mad-Eye has assured me he and his Aurors will continue their search for Harry through the night. It may be best for yourself, Sirius, Miss Vance, and Miss Meadowes to remain with James until we discover any leads."

Mad-Eye and his Aurors left shortly after Dumbledore, once he, Remus, and Sirius double-checked that the wards surrounding the Potter property were in working order. James hadn't moved from his spot on the sofa in hours, and his friends decided he needed time alone. They gathered on the back porch to discuss their findings at the Burrow, away from earshot of James.

"What happened to telling him everything?" Sirius asked flatly, taking a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lighting one with the tip of his wand. Remus raised an eyebrow and Dorcas rolled her eyes. "Thought he _needed to know_."

"He does," Remus said. "But perhaps now isn't the time." He sat on the steps and rested his aching head in his hands. Emmeline sat beside him and rubbed his back. "I thought you quit smoking, Sirius?"

"I did," Sirius grunted, exhaling a puff of smoke. "But I keep a pack on me for emergency stress. And this situation is the perfect excuse to pick it up again."

"Just don't kiss me again until you've brushed your teeth," Dorcas muttered. "I don't feel quite in the mood to make out with an ashtray." Sirius ignored her.

Emmeline sighed, resting her head on Remus' shoulder. "Maybe we should get some rest, hmm? There isn't much we can do until someone finds something."

Sirius snorted. "Do you know how utterly stupid this is? We're standing around doing nothing while a six-year-old is god-knows-where having god-knows-what happening–"

Dorcas cleared her throat pointedly, looking over Sirius' shoulder. He turned and immediately regretted saying what he had: James was standing in the doorframe looking at them all. "Hey, Prongs," Sirius said, not looking his best friend in the eye. "We were just…" He looked round at the others helplessly.

"Are you hungry, James?" Emmeline asked suddenly, standing and heading back into the house. "Would you like a sandwich or something?"

James shook his head. "No, thanks," he said very hoarsely. "Have you found out anything?"

Sirius looked pleadingly at Remus, begging him silently not to tell James about Wormtail.

Remus shook his head, both at James' answer and Sirius pleading. "No, not yet," he said quietly. "Mad-Eye and the Aurors are continuing the search, and Dumbledore's going to see what he can do…"

Nodding, James turned back and disappeared from their view. When they went to see where he'd gone, they discovered he'd reentered his bedroom.

"This is killing him," Dorcas said, sitting beside Sirius at the kitchen table. "You can see it in his eyes…"

"Problem is, we have no idea where Harry could possibly be," Sirius said, rubbing circles on her back. "If Wormtail does have him, then–"

He was cut off by a knock at the front door. Raising an eyebrow at Remus, Sirius led the way to the front hall. The visitor turned out to be Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Evening, Sirius, Remus," the black Auror said, looking especially grim. "I think the three of us need to talk…"

"Have you found Harry?" Sirius asked quickly, hoping darkly the answer was no. Kingsley only ever looked like this when he had bad news.

"No," Kingsley replied. "Actually, the news I have doesn't really pertain to Harry. It's about James."

Remus raised an eyebrow. "What about him?" he asked slowly.

Kingsley sighed, looking very hesitant. "Look, don't shoot the messenger, here. I'm on orders from Mad-Eye and the Minister."

"Bagnold?" Sirius asked, surprised. "What orders?"

Licking his lips, stalling for time, Kingsley seemed to be rethinking his decision to visit. "We received a tip tonight."

"About Harry?" Remus asked.

Kingsley shook his head. "No, about Lily."

Both Sirius and Remus raised their eyebrows. "Lily?" Sirius asked loudly. "What about her?"

"The tip was about someone who was involved in her murder."

"What tip could you have possibly received?" Remus asked. "Everyone knows who killed Lily, everyone knows who _helped _kill Lily."

"Well, Bagnold took this tip very seriously – apparently it was from someone she trusts, though she wouldn't give Mad-Eye any names."

"What was the tip, Kingsley?" Sirius asked flatly.

Again, Kingsley hesitated. "The tip was that…" He sighed, obviously preparing to just get this over with. "That James was involved in Lily's murder…"

Remus felt like he'd been slapped. Glancing over at Sirius, he obviously felt the same way. Sirius mouthed wordlessly for long moments while Remus tried to wrap his head around yet another setback in the search for Harry.

"Are you out of your bloody mind?" Sirius finally managed to whisper harshly. "How could James have ever had anything to do with Lily's death? For one, he was at Hogwarts when Voldemort showed up at Godric's Hollow, and he was un-bloody-conscious!"

Kingsley looked as though this was exactly the reaction he'd expected from Sirius. "I know that, Mad-Eye knows that, but like I said, Bagnold sent down the order, and we have to do it…"

"Have to do what?" Remus asked warily, unsure if he even wanted the answer. The look on Kingsley's face was enough of a reply. "You're not taking him in, are you?"

"No way," Sirius said at once. "Do you have any idea what that'll do to him?"

"I have no choice," Kingsley said, sounding tired. "Mad-Eye and I were both threatened with suspension from the Ministry if we didn't bring him in for questioning."

"Yeah? I would've taken the bloody suspension!" Sirius yelled.

"Yeah?" Kingsley replied, raising his own eyebrows. "Well, if I hadn't come out, someone else would've been sent, someone who doesn't give a damn about James. Like Dawlish – he'd love to see James taken down. But I thought it'd be a hell of a lot easier all around if one of James' friends took care of this. Mad-Eye's already contacted Dumbledore, and with any luck, they'll have this mess sorted out within the next few hours."

Remus sighed. Much as he loathed to say it, especially given the current look on Sirius' face, he agreed with Kingsley. "Perhaps we should just let Kingsley do his job, Sirius. Do not glare at me; you know as well as I do that James had nothing to do with what happened to Lily. Dumbledore, Mad-Eye and Kingsley know as well. All they need to do is convince the Minister."

"Well, perhaps I should go have a word with her," Sirius growled.

"You'll do no such thing," Kingsley said in his calm voice. "That'll only make things worse than they already are. Look, we're still concentrating on finding Harry, even with this mess with James. All I ask is that you cooperate with me. This wasn't my choice, I assure you…"

Finally, Remus and Kingsley managed to convince Sirius to let Kingsley do what he had to do. Dumbledore would do everything in his power to get James out of the holding cells before the night was over. "Just let me have a word with him first, eh?" Sirius requested, leading Kingsley into the house.

Kingsley agreed, albeit a tad reluctantly.

"James may take this better if he hears it from Sirius first," Remus explained quietly.

"I am sorry about this, Lupin," Kingsley said.

Remus nodded, attempting and failing to smile. "We don't blame you, not even Sirius. This has just been a bad night all around."

It took about ten minutes, but finally, Sirius led James down the stairs. Whether James understood what was happening or not, Remus wasn't sure. He nodded once expressionlessly to Kingsley, and without a word, allowed his fellow Auror to lead him out of the house. His friends watched until the pair disappeared into the darkness. They turned around and found the witches staring open-mouthed at the door.

"What was that all about?" Dorcas asked.

Sighing, Remus led all three of them back to the kitchen where he and Sirius explained what had just happened. Emmeline and Dorcas were just as shocked and outraged as the wizards had been to hear about this supposed tip Minister Bagnold had received.

"Who would have done that?" Emmeline asked. "_Why_ would anyone have done that? Anyone who knew James and Lily knew James never would have done anything to harm her in any sense of the word."

Sirius shrugged, finally seeming to have calmed down a bit. "Could've been anyone, I suppose. Anyone James has ever pissed off. Hell, we could put Snape at the top of the list for all we know about this anonymous tipster."

* * *

Harry was becoming more confused than he had been in a very long time. He'd been sitting in this room for hours – daytime had come and passed – and the blond-haired man hadn't yet come back. But Harry hadn't been alone all this time. Around lunchtime, a house-elf who said its name was Dobby had brought the six-year-old a plate of food. Harry had eaten it very cautiously, still unsure if he should have eaten it at all; he didn't know the people who lived in this house, how did he know they wouldn't hurt him? A few hours after lunch, the house-elf had returned to retrieve a tray, then disappeared, leaving Harry alone again.

Until now, that was.

Harry's door was opening very slowly. Automatically, Harry slid under the covers of the bed he was in and pretended to be asleep, while he really kept his left eye open just a sliver to see who'd entered. It was a boy around his age with the same blond hair as the man. He was moving slowly as though he thought a monster was going to jump out and get him if he moved any quicker.

Out of curiosity, Harry opened his eyes fully to watch the boy as he entered the room a bit further. After a few minutes of the boy just staring around, Harry sat up. The boy jumped and looked over at Harry, his eyes wide.

"Who're you?" the boy asked just a tad rudely.

"Who're _you?_" Harry countered.

"Draco Malfoy."

"I'm Harry Potter."

Draco's eyes widened. Harry had seen this reaction many times when he and his father went out in public around witches and wizards. Everyone knew who the Potters were. People thought they were heroes, though his father told him neither of them had done anything to be heroes; the only true hero in the Potter family was Harry's mother, because she died trying to save her son.

"S-so it's true, then?" Draco whispered in awe.

Harry's brow furrowed. "What's true?"

"My father says you're to live with us now."

"What?" Harry asked, shocked. "No, I'm not! I'm going home to my dad! I'm not staying here."

Ignoring this, Draco went on. "My father also said your father killed your mother, and now he's going to Azkaban for it, and that's why you have to live with us."

"That's not true," Harry said angrily. "Voldemort killed my mum, not my dad!"

Draco jumped a little at Harry's use of Voldemort's name, looking absolutely terrified. "You're not supposed to say his name… He'll kill you if you do."

"My dad says you shouldn't be afraid of a name," Harry said automatically. "Your dad's wrong."

"No, he's not," Draco said, suddenly looking even more frightened. "If Father says it, it's true. He doesn't lie."

"Well, he did this time."

"Don't call my father a liar," Draco sneered.

"Don't say my father's a murderer," Harry growled back. "He'll come for me…"

The two boys glared at each other for a long time. Harry's mind was reeling. He knew his dad didn't kill his mum, so why was this boy saying he had? Was his dad really going to Azkaban? And even if he was, why would he have to live with these people? Sirius was his godfather, and his dad always said if anything were to happen to him, he, Harry, would live with Sirius.

Harry's thoughts were broken by a _pop_ in the corner of the room. Automatically, both boys looked over and saw Dobby the house-elf staring at them in horror. "Master Draco! What is you doing out of bed? Your father will hear you… And he's angry as it is… You must go back to bed!"

Draco gulped, looking from the house-elf to Harry. Without a word, he quickly left the room, looking around the corner of the door before exiting and closing it softly behind him. Harry looked back at Dobby. The house-elf had moved closer to Harry. "Was he telling the truth?" Harry asked quietly. "Do I really have to live here now?"

Dobby nodded. "That's what Master Lucius says," he said just as quietly. "I is sorry, Harry Potter." Then Dobby disappeared just as quickly as he'd appeared.

Harry climbed back into bed, staring at the wall, his lip quivering, his eyes burning. He tried to be quiet while he cried, but he couldn't help the sobs that came from him. His dad _had_ to come from him. Harry didn't want to live here with these people. They told lies about his dad. He wanted to go home to his dad and Sirius and Remus and Dorcas and Emmeline. Why was this happening to him?

An hour later, Harry had cried himself to sleep.

* * *

The next hour or so was spent watching Sirius pace through the kitchen, drink half a bottle of Firewhiskey, and smoke a pack of cigarettes. Nobody said anything to try and stop him; anything that kept him from storming the Ministry and getting himself arrested was fine with them. Remus had dozed off for a few minutes at a time, but jolted awake every time due to his mind working in overdrive. Nobody had really said much since Kingsley led James out of the house; they were all too caught up in what had happened in less than twenty-four hours to worry about thinking about saying anything. What was worse, they were still no closer to finding Harry than they were before Kingsley arrived. The spells and charms Dumbledore and Mad-Eye performed in the hopes of getting some sort of clue of where the boy had been taken came back without results. One of the thoughts Remus had been trying to block out for hours kept coming to the forefront of his mind: Severus Snape may well be the only way they would discover anything about where Harry was. He didn't dare voice this thought aloud, however; if there was one thing that would undoubtedly get Sirius worked up again, it would be admitting he believed Harry's fate was in the hands of Sirius' known enemy.

"I can't handle this anymore," Sirius groaned, glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall. "I'm going to find out what's taking so long with James…"

Before anyone could muster the energy to try and stop him, Sirius was already in the living room, seemingly prepared to Floo. Remus raised his head halfheartedly for a few seconds before resting it on his arms again. Just as he closed his eyes, he was once again jolted back to reality.

"_What the hell are you doing here?_" Sirius roared from the living room.

Dorcas, who'd been asleep on her arms as well, jumped a few feet off her chair while Emmeline snapped open her eyes, muttering sleepily, "Wha' was 'at?"

Remus sighed as he stood. "What's happening now?" he muttered to himself, leading the witches to the living room to figure out what the commotion was all about. It wasn't difficult to figure out what had Sirius so incredibly livid, and once Remus spotted the source, he had to use every ounce of discipline he possessed to keep from beating his head against a wall. He could hear Dorcas' quiet groan as she spotted her boyfriend glaring with the utmost loathing at Severus Snape.

"Can we help you with something, Severus?" Emmeline asked evenly, stepping forward beside Remus. She seemed to be the only person able to say anything at the moment. Snape's eyes snapped from Sirius in surprise to the witch, and Remus felt slightly defensive of her all of a sudden.

"I have been sent by the headmaster to relay a message," Snape said coolly. Remus could tell James Potter's home was the last place in the world he ever wanted to be.

Remus cleared his throat. "Perhaps we should all sit," he said, his voice still rather hoarse. He led the way over to the sofa. Emmeline sat beside him, and he automatically put an arm around her shoulders. Snape looked at them with an unreadable expression. Dorcas took the armchair, Snape reluctantly sat in another armchair, while Sirius continued to glare daggers at him. "Sirius, sit down, please," Remus said with a hint of authority.

Sirius looked at him briefly before sitting on Emmeline's other side, far from Snape.

"What is this message you were asked to relay, Severus?" Remus said mildly.

"Why couldn't Dumbledore come?" Sirius demanded before Snape could even open his mouth.

Remus closed his eyes, trying to remain calm and patient. He was having a rather difficult time of it.

"The headmaster could not be here because he is currently busy trying to keep Potter Senior out of Azkaban," Snape said smoothly. The look on his face suggested he couldn't have cared less about whether James went to prison. Remus knew this to be true. Snape looked away from Sirius to Emmeline, choosing to speak to her rather than the others in the room. "Earlier this evening, I received a message from Lucius Malfoy. He requested my presence at his home; he'd acquired something I would be interested in seeing. Upon my arrival, he explained that he'd been planning to complete the Dark Lord's work on Halloween night five years ago."

This startled Sirius out of his anger. He stared at Snape not with loathing but with horror.

"His plan was to destroy what remained of the Potter family," Snape went on. "His initial plan was to simply kill both Potter and his son in their home while they slept, but he learned that Potter had wards and charms in place to keep Death Eaters away."

"They're charmed to recognize the Dark Mark," Remus said slowly, now looking at Snape with his brow furrowed. "Now I think of it, how did _you _get through?"

Snape looked at Emmeline again. "You've told them?" he asked coldly.

"I had to," Emmeline replied with no hint of apology.

Snape didn't respond to this. "The headmaster temporarily disabled the wards so that I could give you this information," he told Remus, still looking at Emmeline. Emmeline stared back with an unreadable expression. "He will make quite certain the wards are back in place once he returns from the Ministry."

"And how do we know that in that time you won't have your Death Eater pals here to kill us too?" Sirius growled.

"I have no desire to have any of you killed. You're not worth it," Snape sneered back.

"Perhaps you could finish giving your message, Severus?" Remus asked, cutting off Sirius' reply.

Snape turned away from Sirius. "Peter Pettigrew had come to Lucius' home nearly a month ago. Lucius was prepared to kill Pettigrew on the spot, but Pettigrew claimed he had information that would greatly interest him. He told Lucius that the Potters were just miles from where Pettigrew had been hiding these last five years, and during the full moon, Harry Potter walked alone to this location. If Lucius waited until the full moon, Potter Junior would be away from the protections of his home and of his father."

"So Malfoy has Harry?" Emmeline asked.

"He does," Snape said quietly. Remus noticed he didn't use the tones of loathing with her that he did with the others, but at the moment, he wasn't all that worried about it.

"Is he going to kill Harry?" Dorcas asked fearfully.

"That is not his plan, no," Snape said swiftly. "It was he who gave the Minister of Magic the information that James Potter was involved with his wife's murder. Since Lucius gives considerable amounts of gold to the Ministry quite often, the Minister believed he was telling the truth."

"But how could she have believed that?" Emmeline asked. "Just because he gives a ton of gold…"

"That's exactly why she believed him. If she didn't take the information she'd been given and hadn't done something about it, she worried that Lucius would quit being charitable."

"So it was bribery." Remus sighed. "Is Harry at Malfoy's home?"

"He was just a few hours ago," Snape said. "And I don't believe Lucius plans to move him elsewhere."

"Is he all right?" Remus asked.

"He has not been harmed in any way," Snape replied carelessly. "Lucius further plans to claim Potter Junior as his own once the boy's father is in Azkaban."

"He can't do that!" Sirius said loudly. "Even if James does go to Azkaban, Harry's my godson; he rightfully belongs to me!"

"Again, Lucius' gifts to the Ministry are greatly appreciated by the Minister. I believe she would allow nearly anything to appease Lucius," Snape said. "The headmaster also wishes for you to remain here and not storm into Malfoy Manor immediately. As I've said, Harry Potter is not in any immediate danger. The headmaster will contact you once he finishes at the Ministry, and you will plan a rescue from there."

Snape stood up, went to the fire, and threw in some Floo powder. Before he left, he turned back to Emmeline looking briefly from her to Remus. "Is that the best you can do?" he said nastily. He turned back to the fire. "Hogwarts, Potions office." Snape disappeared.

Emmeline glared hard at the fireplace for a few moments, then looked at Remus. "Don't listen to him," she said quietly, squeezing the hand he had around her shoulder.

He smiled a little. "I never do."

"So we're just supposed to sit here, when we finally know where Harry is?" Sirius said, slightly confused.

Remus nodded. "I think that is the best course of action at the moment. We don't know if there are more Death Eaters at Malfoy Manor. There are only four of us, and as well trained as we may be, we'd be no match if we were ambushed by a dozen or more of Voldemort's followers."

"Yeah, but for all we know Malfoy could have modified Harry's mind into believing James isn't his father, that Malfoy is," Sirius said, his confusion fading and his anger returning.

"Memory modifications can be reversed, Sirius," Remus reminded him calmly.

Sirius shook his head slowly. "Do you know how easy it is to modify a child's memory? It's nearly impossible to un-modify it. Children's minds are so impressionable and simple. If Malfoy does it right… Well, we'll have a hell of a time breaking that."

"If Malfoy does modify Harry's mind, we will reverse it somehow," Dorcas said quietly. "We do have Albus Dumbledore on our side."

Sirius didn't seem very comforted by this.

* * *

It was a few hours before the fireplace burst into green flames again. Between the time Snape left and this moment, the four friends decided a little nap was in order. "We'll be no good during a rescue mission if we're exhausted," Remus had said, following this statement with a huge yawn.

Sirius had enlarged the armchair Dorcas was sitting in for comfort and sat beside her; she immediately snuggled into his chest and pulled his arm around her. He kissed her forehead before resting his head against the back of the chair and closing his eyes. Remus and Emmeline lay down on the sofa together, Remus holding her against him tightly. They all slept until three in the morning until they heard the Floo alarms sounding. Sirius woke immediately, staring at the fireplace while the others slowly began to wake and realized what was happening. Moments later, a figure appeared in the flames.

"James!" Sirius said, his voice thick with sleep as he unwrapped himself from Dorcas' arms.

James stepped out of the fireplace looking exhausted. "Dumbledore's on his way," he said quietly, sitting in the armchair Snape had sat in just hours ago.

"Are you all right?" Remus asked, looking at him closely.

James nodded. "I'm fine," he replied.

"What'd they do to you?" Dorcas asked.

"Questioned me about Lily," he said. "When they didn't get the answers they seemed to have wanted, they used Veritaserum."

Sirius shook his head in disgust. "Who did the questioning? Was Mad-Eye there?"

"No," James said. "It was Bagnold, Amelia Bones, Dawlish, and Savage. Dumbledore wasn't allowed in, either." He looked around as though hoping Harry was going to run into the room. "What's been happening here? Anything?"

Before anyone could decide whether they should tell James about Snape, the fireplace erupted in green flames once more. It was Dumbledore. "Severus said he has given you the information he received."

They all nodded. James looked surprised. "Snape was here?" he asked, looking at Sirius and Remus.

"Yes," Remus said, deciding now was as good a time as any to tell James the truth. "He knew where Harry is, and he came to tell us."

"Where is he?" James asked quickly. "Is he all right?"

"He's fine," Sirius said quietly. "Lucius Malfoy has him."

"What?" James asked loudly. "How did that son of a bitch get him?"

Hesitating and glancing at Sirius (Sirius nodded), Remus said, "Wormtail told him that the best time to get a hold of Harry was on the full moon when he was walking alone to the Burrow."

It took a few moments for James to fully realize what Remus had said. "Wormtail?" he said, sounding a bit threatening.

Sighing, Remus began telling James everything they knew. They explained about the letter Emmeline received while she was in America, that it'd been she who sent James the photos. They told him about the searches they'd been conducting over the last week, even on the nights they'd visited James for dinner or just to watch television and enjoy themselves. They told him about their visit to Molly Weasley, and their finding out where Wormtail had been all this time.

By the end of their explanation, none of them could look James in the eye. He looked quite hurt that he hadn't been let in on any of this. "Why didn't you tell me before?" he asked, looking at each of them in turn.

"We didn't think it would do you any good to know," Sirius said quietly. "You'd been so obsessed about those damned photos when you didn't even know they were of Wormtail. If you'd know they really had been him… We're sorry, Prongs."

"Even still…" James said. "Do you know where Wormtail is now?"

"That is neither here nor there at the moment," Dumbledore said, speaking for the first time since his arrival. "Our primary focus is to retrieve Harry from Lucius Malfoy's home before he decides to harm him. Severus had just returned from Malfoy Manor when I arrived in my office to replace the wards around James' property. There are no other Death Eaters in the home apart from Malfoy, and Severus does not believe any more will arrive."

"And we're just supposed to trust that?" Sirius asked. "What if he's setting us up?"

Dumbledore looked at Sirius sadly. Remus wondered if this was because he'd expected Sirius to begin trusting Snape after the information he'd given them. "I trust Severus Snape," he said with a tone that suggested the subject was closed for discussion. "Our best chances of recovering Harry safely will be under the cover of darkness. I understand none of you wish to wait any longer, but I must insist that you do. If we enter Malfoy's property in the daylight, he may spot us, and he may harm Harry."

"What about Invisibility Cloaks and Disillusionment charms?" Remus asked. "That way he may not see us."

"Another reason I must insist on waiting is that I am not certain whether Malfoy has his own protections surrounding his home. Severus is currently finding this information, and by the time he does, it will be daylight," Dumbledore said.

"So once he finds out, can't we go in under Cloaks and Charms?" Sirius asked.

Dumbledore seemed to fight with this suggestion for long minutes. Finally he said, "I suppose I should not keep any of you waiting any longer than you have to. Once Severus reports back with whether Malfoy is protecting his home against unwanted intruders – if he is, the charms and spells will have to be disabled – you may use Invisibility Cloaks and Disillusionment Charms." He thought for a moment. "You may want to consider using undetectable charms on yourselves as well."

Dumbledore left a few minutes later, leaving everyone silent and rather brooding. James didn't say a word to anyone, and though they all wanted to say something to him, they kept their thoughts to themselves.

"Would anyone care for breakfast?" Dorcas asked hesitantly. When no one replied, she glanced at Emmeline, and shortly after, both witches left the room, leaving the remaining Marauders alone.

Sirius and Remus exchanged a look. Neither seemed certain whether their girlfriends' retreats were a good idea just yet or not. Before either of them could say a word, James spoke.

"What happened to being honest with each other?" he asked, staring at the empty fireplace.

"James, we wanted to tell you, we really did," Remus said. "We just weren't certain whether it was the best idea before we had more evidence. We wanted you to concentrate on taking care of Harry, not whether Wormtail was wandering around somewhere."

"Yeah, and I did a bloody _brilliant_ job of taking care of Harry, didn't I?" James said sarcastically.

Sirius sighed. "James, nobody could've known what was going to happen to Harry. I mean, how many times has he gone down that path since you've moved here?"

"Maybe that was the problem," James said quietly, looking tortured. "We were both too comfortable, and I knew in the back of my mind there were still Death Eaters out there somewhere who would've loved to get their filthy hands on my son. It was just a matter of time before something like this happened…"

"We're going to get him back," Remus said. "Lucius Malfoy will be taken down. If I have to do it myself, Malfoy will go down hard." James and Sirius looked at him in surprise. Remus never spoke or looked like this, and it seemed to scare them slightly.

Remus himself was thinking of the pain Lucius Malfoy had caused James and possibly Harry as well. He was very protective of what little family he still had, and anything that caused them pain in any sense of the word brought out anger he'd never felt in his life. As it was still quite near to the setting of the full moon, the wolf was still awake in the back of Remus' mind, and it, too, was ready for a fight. The wolf was calling for blood and flesh, prepared to tear apart Lucius Malfoy's throat. Remus fought back those feelings, keeping his own mind in control.

Emmeline and Dorcas returned a few minutes later with a tray full of food. The wizards were rather bemused by this, as they hadn't smelled said food. Usually, the moment fumes of bacon, eggs, toast, sausage, and many other things reached their noses, they raced to the kitchen. Remus decided they'd been too caught up in what had been happening that they blocked out everything else.

"Help yourselves, boys," Emmeline said as cheerfully as she could manage – it wasn't much. "None of you have eaten in nearly two days, and I know you must be hungry."

She was quite right; all three wizards moved immediately around the coffee table and grabbed whatever food they could reach and stuffing into their mouths. The witches watched in amusement while they ate, momentarily forgetting everything that'd happened in less than forty-eight hours. Remus knew that in just a few hours they would have Harry again, come hell or high water. And if these few moments of forgetting would make what was to come just a little easier, Remus welcomed them with open arms.

* * *

**AN:** Yes, I know I borrowed a bit of a plot line from whydoyouneedtoknow's _Dangerverse_. Don't send me a ton of reviews about it, please. Anne, if you don't want me to borrow that bit of plot, let me know, and I'll be happy to change the chapter. But as far as the rest of the chapter, what do you think? You know how to let me know. That little purple button does a lot to keep my spirits up!! 'Til next time! 


	16. Rescues and Revenge

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

Sixteen

Breakfast had been demolished, dishes had been washed, and now James was just waiting. He'd been waiting a lot in the last few days, and every minute that went on, he became more and more anxious. When he'd returned from the Ministry, he'd greatly played-down what he'd gone through during his questioning.

Sirius had told him what was happening when Kingsley had arrived, but at the time, James hadn't fully understood. Once at the Ministry, James had been taken from Kingsley's custody, into Dawlish's, and steered rather roughly into a holding cell where he waited to be taken to an interrogation room. Minister of Magic Millicent Bagnold had been waiting along with Amelia Bones, Paul Savage, and a witch sitting before parchment, ink, and extra quills.

They'd begun the questioning immediately by asking him where he'd been when Lily had been attacked. He'd furrowed his brow, but answered the question truthfully. The questions that followed were increasingly strange. Bagnold asked if he'd ever had any connections to Lord Voldemort (though she'd referred to him as 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be Named'). He replied that the only connection he had with the Dark Lord was when he was fighting against him with the Order of the Phoenix. He admitted that Voldemort had wanted to recruit him when he left Hogwarts – there'd been a battle where Voldemort had cornered James and offered James riches and power beyond his wildest dreams. James attempted to cast _Reducto _on Voldemort, and his last memory was seeing the Dark Lord laugh at him. He'd ended up in the hospital for about a week after that battle. The questioners then asked if there was any reason whatsoever that he would've wanted to see his wife dead. Shocked and disgusted, James shouted 'no!', his eyes tearing up at the very thought. They questioned his relationship with Peter Pettigrew – James carefully left out the photos he'd received during his explanation.

That was when Amelia Bones had, very reluctantly in James' opinion, pulled out a small vile of Veritaserum. They'd asked if he would allow the use of the truth serum; James agreed, just to get the horrible event over with. He couldn't remember what they'd asked him, but once he'd come to after the serum wore off, Amelia Bones had told him very kindly that he was free to go, then shot a look of disdain to Bagnold. Bones had walked him out and he swore that as he was entering the Floo, she had apologized for what had just happened.

But James' trauma hadn't ended with the Ministry questioning. The hurt he'd felt after hearing his friends had known about Wormtail had been deep. After a lot of thought on the matter, however, James decided his friends had been right not to have told him what they'd discovered. He had absolutely been ignoring his responsibilities as a father while he tried figure out the mystery of the photos he'd been sent, apparently by Emmeline. Reluctantly, he'd admitted only to himself that if he'd known that Wormtail actually was alive and wandering around free, he would have become even more obsessed.

"Sickle for your thoughts, mate?" Sirius said, sitting beside him on the porch steps, looking out over the backyard. "You haven't said anything in a while…"

James shrugged. "Just thinking." He sighed. "You and Remus were right," he said quietly, not looking over at his best friend.

"How so?" Sirius asked curiously.

The other wizard remained silent for a few minutes, gathering his thoughts. "You were right not to tell me about Wormtail," he said heavily. "If you'd told me what Emmeline told you, Harry may have forgotten he even had a father. I don't want that to happen, Sirius. I love my son. I loved my wife. I never wanted to see either of them hurt. I failed. Twice."

It was Sirius' turn to sigh. He put an arm around his best friend's shoulder and pulled him into a one-armed hug. "You didn't fail, Prongs. Not at all," he said sternly. "Harry's got the best father he could ever have. Lily had the best husband. You did everything you could to protect both of them, but you couldn't control everything, James. I know you wanted to, but you couldn't, there was no way. I know you're still not over Lily's death, and I don't blame you. I hope I can love Dorcas just half as much as you loved Lily. But things happen that you can't predict, no matter hard you try. But I promise you now, James, we will get Harry back, and he will be just fine. Like Remus said, Malfoy's going down, no matter what happens. Do you believe me?"

James didn't want to answer right away. He didn't want to jinx anything Sirius had said. But his best friend was waiting for an answer. "I believe you," he said very quietly. "I trust you with my life, Padfoot, and my son's life. I trust Remus just as much. I know you two won't let anything happen to either of us."

"'Atta boy, Prongs," Sirius said gruffly, kissing the top of his best friend's scruffy head.

The backdoor slammed open. It was Remus. "Dumbledore's just arrived; he's got Snape's results for the ward checks around Malfoy Manor."

James and Sirius were on their feet immediately, following Remus into the house and towards the living room.

Dumbledore was standing in front of the fireplace, and James couldn't help but feel awe towards the headmaster. He'd always known Dumbledore was powerful; he'd been taught by his mother and father that Dumbledore was the greatest wizard to ever live. And he'd had this feeling of awe before when the headmaster had been part of a battle against Voldemort and his Death Eaters. The moment Dumbledore arrived, and the Death Eaters and their master realized there'd been a new arrival, they'd Disapparated.

"What have you found out?" Sirius asked once they were fully in the living room.

"Severus has disabled the wards around Malfoy Manor temporarily," the headmaster said briskly. "You will have a window of one and half hours to enter the property under Invisibility Cloaks and disguising charms. Severus cannot hold the wards open for longer than that window; if Lucius discovers his wards have been disabled, not only you will be in danger, but Severus as well."

"Not all that fussed about him, to tell you the truth," Sirius muttered under his breath.

"Sirius," Remus said sternly.

Sirius backed off his anger with Severus Snape for the moment. James mentally chuckled at the effect Remus' tone of voice had on his best friend. It worked with James just as well, actually.

"Shall we go, then?" Dorcas asked in a tone that suggested they were heading to the Leaky Cauldron for a few drinks. This caused the four younger witches and wizards to genuinely burst out laughing. Dumbledore watched in amusement.

Once they'd calmed down, they looked at each other in surprise. "What was that all about?" Emmeline asked, still chuckling.

"Lack of sleep," Remus said, wiping a tear from his eye. "It's the only thing that could've been."

"Even Prongs laughed," Sirius pointed out, patting his best friend on the back. "I haven't seen him laugh in weeks!"

James glared at him, though his lips were twitching hard. "Come on, mates, let's go rescue my son."

* * *

Harry was really starting to hate this place. After that boy Draco had left, he hadn't come back, not that Harry had missed him at all; that boy was telling lies about his dad and his mum, and Harry didn't like that one bit. He knew very well that his dad hadn't murdered his mum – that had been Voldemort and Wormtail. Harry didn't know who told this boy those lies – he'd said it was his father – but that person was very wrong. 

Harry missed his family. He missed Sirius telling him jokes and helping him play pranks on his dad. He missed Remus teaching him about different books. He missed Dorcas tickling him until he couldn't breathe. Though he didn't know Emmeline very well, he missed her too. And of course, he missed his dad. His dad was his best friend. His dad had taught him to fly and read and write. His dad read him bedtime stories until he fell asleep. His dad comforted him when he had a bad dream. Harry didn't think that if he stayed here Draco's dad would do any of those things for him. Harry had only seen Draco's dad a few times, when he'd come in to see if Harry was asleep, but Draco's dad scared him badly.

All Harry wanted was to go home. Was that really such a bad thing to want?

Dobby the house-elf had come in to give Harry some lunch, but he hadn't stayed to give Harry company while he ate like he had the last few times. Harry liked Dobby. He wasn't mean like Draco and his dad. He'd only ever seen a house-elf one other time: At Hogwarts. He and his dad and Sirius had gone to see Professor Dumbledore one day, and Professor Dumbledore had rang a little bell, and a house-elf had appeared with a tray of tea and the best biscuits Harry had ever had. Harry had told the house-elf that when it had returned, and the house-elf had blushed, bowed, and thanked Harry for his kind words.

Harry even wished he could go to Hogwarts right now. Anywhere but this place…

* * *

A group of five appeared in Wiltshire just as Harry was receiving his lunch. They were less than a mile from Malfoy Manor, but hadn't wanted to appear inside Malfoy's property. The group hid in the bushes where Dumbledore passed a Cloak to the four who didn't own their own Invisibility Cloaks and helped them with Disillusionment Charms, and charms that would keep them from being detected by certain spells Malfoy may have placed within his home, like intruder detection. Unfortunately, these spells only held for thirty minutes at a time, so the group had to hurry. 

James hardly waited for Dumbledore to finish the spells placed on himself. He was off before anyone could realize he was gone. Sirius rolled his eyes before raising the hood of the Invisibility Cloak over his head. "James, hang on!" he called, unsure whether his best friend even stopped.

"Weren't we supposed to wait until _everyone_ was ready?" Remus asked rhetorically. "Aren't you coming, sir?"

Dumbledore smiled. "I would love to, but it seems you three have taken all my Invisibility Cloaks."

Remus smirked. "Are you telling me, sir, that you can't make yourself invisible without a cloak?" he asked slyly.

The headmaster only winked and Disapparated.

"Strange man, Dumbledore," Dorcas said conversationally. "Come on, you two, we better catch up with those two dolts."

* * *

Sirius could only find James because his best friend's shoe was showing. He was sure James had done this on purpose; the practice James had had hiding himself under an Invisibility Cloak had made him an expert on keeping his entire body covered. Sirius touched what he hoped to be James' shoulder. 

"Who's that?" James' voice whispered. "Padfoot?"

"It's me," Sirius whispered back.

James didn't reply for a few seconds. "Harry's in there… And I will kill Malfoy if my son has been hurt in any way."

"I'll help," Sirius replied grimly.

"James? Sirius?" Remus' whispering voice was a few feet behind them. Sirius turned and could see three sets of footprints in the slightly wet grass.

"Right here," James said to them.

"Ah, I see your footprints."

"Let's hope Malfoy isn't looking for footprints in his lawn," Emmeline said very quietly.

"He's probably too busy greasing up his hair to pay attention to his lawn," Dorcas said. Sirius had to stifle a laugh.

"Okay, how are we doing this?" Remus asked. "Are we staying together, or splitting up?"

"Well, there are five of us," James said slowly. "We can split up in three groups. Sirius and Dorcas, Remus and Emmeline, and myself. Remus and Emmeline, you take the basement if he has one. I'll take the main floor, and Sirius and Dorcas take the upstairs. Anyone who finds Harry sends their Patronus to the others. No one shouts; we're still not sure who's in the house. Everyone agree?"

"You're in charge with this thing, mate," Sirius said, feeling his Auror training kicking in. "May I add something?"

"You may."

"Anyone who finds Malfoy stuns him. Don't fight if you don't have to. Got it?"

"Got it," the others said.

"Off we go, then," James said.

They could all see his footprints head towards the house and followed. The door opened of its own accord, and for a few seconds, they all stopped and held their breath, Sirius reaching for his wand from inside his cloak. That's when they saw Snape standing at the door, looking out over the lawn. He looked at the footprints in the grass, to the wet footprints on the patio, to where they stopped.

"Inside," he said under his breath, his lip curled as they passed him. Sirius had the urge to kick him, but refrained. This was too important to ruin it with a duel.

_Only for you, Harry,_ he thought.

Snape closed the door, and he disappeared into a sitting room where he met Narcissa, who seemed to be preparing to leave, rather enthusiastically and began chatting with her. Sirius thought vaguely that Snape was keeping his cousin occupied so they could do what they had to do.

_God, I hope she doesn't cause any trouble. But knowing Narcissa…_

"Sirius?" Dorcas said very quietly. Her voice was barely audible, but once Sirius was out sight from Narcissa, he held his hand outside of the cloak so she could see him. She touched the hand lightly and he withdrew it, making it invisible again before proceeding up the stairs again and began quietly and carefully searching rooms for Harry. Unfortunately, there seemed to be more floors to this house than he originally thought.

_A long search is worth it, though, if we find Harry in one piece…_

On the second level, the fourth or fifth door down, they found a boy around Harry's age that to be Malfoy's son. Sirius couldn't remember the kid's name, but he stayed and stared at him through the open door longer than he wanted to. The boy was playing alone on the floor with wooden blocks, and he was the saddest thing Sirius had ever seen. He actually felt sorry for the boy, and he never in a million years thought he would feel sorry for a Malfoy. Sirius stood staring at the boy until Dorcas tugged on his arm, pulling him back to reality.

Sirius wanted to find Harry worse than ever.

* * *

Harry sat on the edge of the bed staring out at the window. He'd thought it was daytime, but the moon was out and he could see stars in the black sky. He wondered briefly if these windows were like the ones at the Ministry his dad had shown him, the ones that could be charmed to show different sorts of weather. He realized, though, that it really didn't matter, and he really didn't care, anyway. 

He jumped about a foot in the air when the door began to open slowly. As quickly as he could, he scrambled under the blankets again, hoping it wasn't that Draco or even worse, his father. But Harry's hopes were shattered, though, when the blond man entered, staring down at Harry's bed.

"Wake up, boy," he said coldly.

Harry pretended to be asleep.

"I said, _wake up_," the man said again, snatching the blankets away from Harry's body.

Suddenly terrified, Harry opened his eyes, trying not to cry in front of this man. He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest. The man pulled out his wand. "You're to live here from now on, as your worthless, murdering father has landed himself in prison."

"H-he's not a m-m-murderer," Harry whispered. He'd wanted to shout it, but his fear of this man was overwhelming.

The man smiled a smile that sent shivers down Harry's spine. "Oh, my dear boy, I assure you he is. And the Ministry feels that if he remains free and you were to remain with him, he would one day kill you the same way he killed your mother. You will live with my family – my wife will be your new mother, my son your new brother, and I your new father. You will grow to learn the Dark Arts, and once the Dark Lord returns, you will fight beside him and destroy that Mudblood loving 'family' of yours."

Harry couldn't help the tears now. He didn't want to do any of those things. Why hadn't his dad come for him yet?

Just as the blond man raised his wand at Harry, the boy happened to glance at the door and found his godfather's head floating there, looking angrier than Harry had ever seen him. It actually scared him, so when Sirius put a finger to his lips to keep Harry quiet, it wasn't difficult for Harry to continue looking frightened of the man in front of him.

"_Obliv–_" the man began to say.

Sirius had crept up behind him, pulled off his Invisibility Cloak, grabbed the man by the shoulder, and spun him around. "Get away from my godson," he growled before punching him in the face.

Harry scrambled out of the bed to keep from being fallen on by the man.

"Dorcas, take Harry and get out of here!" he yelled.

Harry looked around for Dorcas, but couldn't see her until she, too, pulled off her cloak. Harry ran to her, grabbed her hand, and she picked him up, quickly taking him away from the room from which he could hear a fight between Harry and the man.

"Are you all right, Harry?" she asked.

Harry nodded, hugging her very tightly. He'd never been happier to see anyone he knew in his life. "M'okay," he muttered into her neck. "I want my dad."

She kissed his head, pulled out her wand and whispered something. Harry looked just in time to see a dog run out in front of them and disappear into the floor. "He's here, Harry. You'll see him very, very, soon, okay?"

Harry nodded before burying his head into her shoulder again.

* * *

James waited impatiently at the bottom of the stairs with Remus and Emmeline, waiting to see that scruffy head of hair he'd hated on himself when he was younger but loved on his son. It seemed to take forever, and just as he was heading up the stairs to see what was taking Sirius and Dorcas so long, he began to hear footsteps walking quickly. His heartbeat sped up to match them. Then, from around the corner, he saw them. Dorcas was smiling, probably at the look on James' face, and whispering something to Harry. Harry turned his head so quickly from where it had been rested against Dorcas' neck that James was surprised he hadn't broken it. The smile on his son's face made James' heart melt just as it had when he'd first seen Harry when he was born. James wanted to run up the stairs to meet him, but for some annoying reason his feet seem rooted on the spot, and it took another eternity for her to reach him, but finally Dorcas had reached him and handed Harry over to him. Harry latched onto him like he never wanted to let go, and James was absolutely all right with that. 

"Oh God, Harry, I'm so sorry," James began muttering, hugging his baby boy tightly. He began muttering other nonsense things into Harry's hair, unaware of the tears of pure happiness streaming down his face. Remus was talking from somewhere behind him, but James neither heard the words nor cared to hear the words right now. All he cared about was having his son back in his arms, thankful that he seemed to be perfectly fine, just as his friends had promised he would be.

"…still upstairs, fighting Malfoy. Sounded like he was about to modify Harry's mind just as we got there," Dorcas was saying.

James spun around quickly, the happiness in his heart quickly replacing itself with anger. "He _what_?" he growled.

His friends' eyes widened, probably at the sudden change in emotion he'd just experienced. James was a bit surprised too. "Where is he?"

"Fourth level, last door on the right," Dorcas said, her eyebrows raised.

"Harry," James said, trying to release his son's grip from around his neck. Harry was surprisingly strong for a six-year-old. "Harry, I have to go do something. I need you to stay with Emmeline and Dorcas for a minute. I'll be right back, I promise."

"No," Harry said stubbornly. He increased his grip.

"Harry, please…"

"Harry, your dad has to go help Sirius so he doesn't get hurt, all right?" Emmeline said soothingly. "Remus will go with him to make sure he comes back very quickly, sweetie. Right, Remus?"

"Of course," Remus said promptly. "Your dad will be back very soon."

Very reluctantly, Harry slowly released James from the death grip he had him in. James kissed him and handed him over to Emmeline before charging up the stairs, not bothering to wait for Remus. He reached the fourth level and charged down the hallway to where he could hear signs of a struggle inside the room Dorcas had said Sirius and Malfoy were in. And indeed, once he'd entered the room fully, he could see his best friend straddling Malfoy's chest, punching every free area he could reach.

Malfoy was fighting back; he had Sirius' throat and was apparently attempting to strangle him. James walked quickly over, pulled Sirius back by his shoulders, and continued where Sirius had left off, growling curses at the man who'd kidnapped his son, tried to have James thrown in prison for killing his wife, planned on taking Harry as his own, and for everything else Malfoy had ever done to him or one of his friends – calling Lily a Mudblood, Sirius a blood traitor, Remus a dirty half-breed, possibly turning Wormtail to the Death Eaters (though James really had no proof of that). James was letting out every ounce of anger he'd ever had out on the other man, and he would have easily killed him if Sirius and Remus hadn't pulled him away.

"Geroff me!" he shouted at them. "He has to pay!"

"He will, James!" Remus panted from the effort of holding his struggling best friend. "He's going to prison for the rest of his life!"

"Not – good – enough!" James continued to struggle until Sirius was finally able to pull out his wand and stun Malfoy.

James stopped struggling and turned on his friends. "What did you do that for?" he yelled.

"Because we're not letting you go to prison after you've just gotten your son back," Sirius said calmly. "This piece of filth isn't worth that."

"Now, come on, James, Harry's waiting for you," Remus said, leading James by the arm out of the room. James wished he hadn't had such a tight grip on his arm; he'd wanted to kick Malfoy in the ribs. "Are you coming, Sirius," Remus added, turning around at the door.

Sirius shook his head. "No, I'm taking Malfoy to the Ministry, you two go on ahead. I'll catch up later."

* * *

That night, after a large meal prepared by Emmeline, Dorcas, and Remus – Sirius and James hadn't been allowed in the kitchen – everyone was in the living room discussing every subject under the sun that didn't have to do with what happened with Malfoy; they wanted to keep Harry's mind off it, and since he hadn't been touched in any malevolent way, the adults were quite all right with that. 

When the boy's head dropped onto his father's shoulder, James looked down and said, "Come on, Harry, time for bed."

"Will you read me a story and tuck me in?" Harry said, yawning hugely.

James smiled. "Of course, I will, buddy," he said. "Go on upstairs and get ready, and I'll be up in a minute."

"Kay…"

"We should be going anyway," Remus said. "It's been a long, exhausting few days for all of us."

James walked them to the door, but before he pulled it open, he said, "I can't thank you lot enough for helping me find Harry. You don't know how much it means to me."

Sirius winked. "Well, Harry means a lot to us, as well. We'd do anything to make certain he was all right."

The others repeated the sentiment.

"Right." James smiled. "Molly Weasley invited Harry and me over to the Burrow this weekend for a picnic, and she said you're all invited as well."

The look on Sirius' face was nothing short of dreamy. "Ah… Molly Weasley cooking… There's nothing better in the world…"

Laughing, James pulled open the door, said good night and thank you to his friends once more, and watched them head to the Apparition point, still laughing and joking with one another.

As he headed up the stairs towards his son's room, James couldn't help but feel both elated and afraid that he got to read his son a bedtime story tonight at all. Malfoy could have just as easily killed Harry rather than kept him alive and plotting to have James thrown in Azkaban so he could keep Harry as his own. The thought of that scared James more than anything. He knew there were still Death Eaters around who'd be more than happy to kill his son after Harry lived through Voldemort's attack – Dumbledore had said the Death Eaters believed Harry's death may bring the Dark Lord back to power. And after the last nearly three days of wondering whether his son was alive or dead, James couldn't bare losing his son again. Just the thought of losing Harry broke James' heart, even more than it had when he'd lost Lily. Not that he'd loved Lily any less, but that after losing her, Harry had become his universe, and if his universe was destroyed, what point was there to life at all?

_No use thinking of that now, though,_ he thought. _I have Harry, and from now on, I just need to keep a much closer eye on him._ He grinned suddenly. _At least until he gets a wand and I can teach him some spells and jinxes. A bat-bogey hex may not go amiss either…_

When he entered Harry's room, his son was already changed into his pajamas, and seemed to have a book out – it was a book James' own father had read to him once: a fairytale, the Muggles called them, about a young boy who found a dragon and kept him as a pet. Harry was flipping through the book, looking at the pictures.

"Scoot over, kiddo," James said.

Harry put down the book and did as told. Usually when James came in to read him a bedtime story, though, Harry would grin widely. It was a grin James adored and looked forward to.

James frowned and sat beside his son, putting an arm around him. "You all right, buddy?" he asked a little concernedly.

Harry sighed much too heavily for a six-year-old. "Dad," he said, and hesitated.

"What's wrong?"

He sighed again. "I didn't think you were going to come me," he said in a tiny, scared voice.

James' eyebrows shot up and his eyes widened a touch. "Why did you think that?" he asked gently, increasing the grip on his son.

"Because…" Harry sighed again. "Because I thought you were going to prison."

Biting his lip, James tried to regain as much of his composure as he possibly could. His anger at Malfoy was boiling again. "Who told you I was going to prison, Harry?" he said evenly, his voice only slightly shaking in anger.

"Well, first it was that boy," Harry explained in a whisper. "He said his dad told him that… that you k-killed Mum. Then that man told me right before Sirius came in."

"And did you believe them?"

"Well, no, not at first," Harry said. "But when you still didn't come get me, I didn't know. And the man also said that you had to go to prison, because they were afraid one day you might kill me too, and that was why I had to live in that place."

"Harry, look at me." James gently turned his son's face up to look him in the eyes. "I promise you, on everything in this world I hold dear, that I _never_ would have done anything to hurt your mum, much less kill her," he said just forcefully enough so Harry understood this without a doubt. "Nor would I ever do anything to ever hurt you. Do you believe that?"

Harry nodded. "I know," he said in that small voice. "I was just scared that you weren't going to come for me and that I wouldn't ever see you again and that I would have to live with that mean man and that mean boy."

He started to cry. James pulled him into his arms, comforting him and rocking him back and forth just as he'd done when Harry was a baby and was crying. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that, Harry," he said, his voice cracking. "I wish I could have come for you sooner, but we didn't know where you'd gone. But I swear to you, the moment we did find out, we came for you. And you'll never have to see that man again. He's going to Azkaban for a very, very long time. Not only did he do bad things to you, but he did bad things to a lot of other people. As for the boy… well, if you and he both go to Hogwarts, I'm sure you'll have to see him. But I'm almost positive his dad was a Slytherin, and it sounds like he will be, too, so you don't have to be nice to him if you don't want to."

Harry looked up at him and grinned shakily through his tears. "Can I charm his shoes to bite him like you and Sirius and Remus did?"

James raised an eyebrow. "Who told you we did that?" he asked, though he already had suspicions.

"Sirius," Harry said dismissively, his tears slowing down and finally stopping.

James snorted. "Sure, you can do that when you figure out the spell."

"Can't you show me?" Harry asked, using his puppy dog eyes that he also learned from Sirius.

"Nope," James said airily. "You'll just have to look it up like we had to."

"Dad…" Harry was using his pleading voice in addition to the puppy dog eyes.

James only grinned. "So, do you have your book picked out?"

* * *

Harry was asleep less than half an hour later. Apparently the last few days had had the same effect on him as they had the adults. James took the book and put it on the bedside table, tucked Harry in, kissed his forehead, and left the room, shutting off the light and closing the door halfway. He headed down the hallway to his study, switched on the light, and went to his desk, but didn't sit. He'd come in here for one reason and one reason only. 

The photos he now knew to truly be of Wormtail were sitting on top a pile of papers for work. James picked them up and flipped through them for what had to be the millionth time since he'd received them. He stopped on the closest shot of Wormtail of the bunch.

"I'll still be looking for you, old friend," he said to the photo. "You can absolutely count on that…" And then he took his wand from his back pocket, cast _Lumos_, and set fire to them with the tip before dropping them in the small, empty, metal trash bin that was usually filled with balled up pieces of parchment. He watched them burn until the last of the fire went out, then he got rid of the ashes with a wave of his wand, went back to the door, turned the light out, and went to bed.

* * *

**AN: **The story's not quite over yet. There's still a bit of unfinished business, but I'd say maybe two more chapters and the story will be over... after over two years since I started it... So I borrowed a line from the _Order of the Phoenix_ movie. Anyone who can tell me which line gets a cookie. This will be my last update until after I read _Deathly Hallows. _Hope everyone enjoys it! Now. You know the drill. Please review!!!  
Later! 


	17. Final Business

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Seventeen_

Months had gone by since Harry's kidnapping. Lucius Malfoy's trial before the Wizengamot had past – he was sentenced to ten years in Azkaban for the kidnapping, but since they didn't have proof that he'd cast any Unforgivable Curses, he escaped a life long sentence with the Dementors. Minister Millicent Bagnold had been voted out of office as well. Somehow, a story had appeared in the _Daily_ _Prophet_ about how the Minister of Magic had taken a false lead that could have caused an innocent man to be sent to Azkaban as well. Sirius denied all responsibility and involvement for the incident.

Any trauma Harry could have been caused during his kidnapping was, thankfully, very minimal. For a few nights after Harry had come home, James woke in the middle of the night to his son's terrified screams. It took only minutes to calm him at the worst of times, but seeing his son in such terror scared James just as badly as the dreams did Harry.

While Wormtail was still at the back of his mind, James had made good on his promise to spend more time with his son. Rather than working overtime at the Ministry, James left work promptly at five o'clock and went to pick Harry up from Remus' bookshop. The two Potter boys had gone to Quidditch matches, Muggle movies, and just spent time in their home, watching television or just sitting around and talking. Harry and James both enjoyed their time together.

James' friends were pleased to see their best friend back to normal. After Harry had been rescued from Malfoy Manor, the change in James' mood was almost immediate. He was laughing a lot more, telling jokes, and pulling pranks on his friends.

Remus and Emmeline had finally announced that they were an official couple. No one was surprised.

After four years of claiming they didn't want to be married, that they were happy doing what they've been doing, Sirius proposed to Dorcas, and she tearfully accepted. Everyone was surprised at that. They'd both claimed marriage was no different than living together for a long period of time. But Sirius told his friends that his decision had been based on what happened with Malfoy and Harry. He'd said he'd realized they weren't as safe as they'd believed; though Voldemort was gone, his followers were still around, and he wanted Dorcas to know how he felt about her in case something happened to either of them.

But things weren't always happy. A month after Harry's return to his father, Dumbledore called a meeting for those left of the Order of the Phoenix. The meeting wasn't long, only about an hour or so, but the headmaster implored them to be prepared for anything that may come. The new Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, wasn't the best choice Dumbledore would have chosen, but since he had no authority over the Ministry, there was nothing he could do about Fudge's appointment to such an important position.

"If war is in the immediate future for the wizarding community," Dumbledore told them, "I fear that Cornelius Fudge may be…" He seemed to struggle to find the right words.

"I know what you're saying, sir," Sirius had said, nodding grimly. "Fudge will end up cowering under his desk until it's over."

He got a few shaky laughs for his comment, and two slaps in the head – one from Remus, and one from Dorcas.

Dumbledore's lips twitched. "That was not quite what I was attempting to say; though, I fear Sirius may be right." The younger wizard looked shocked. "Cornelius is not what the Muggles call a 'man of action'. If Lord Voldemort returns–"

"I'll kill him myself," James muttered under his breath, not looking at anyone.

Remus patted him on the back.

"I will end this meeting with one final word of warning," Dumbledore said, pretending not to hear James' comment, "Keep your eyes wide open for any signs that Voldemort may be returning. I am certain you all remember the events that led us into the last war." Everyone nodded grimly. "For those with children," his eyes rested on James; James held the look, "they are less able to protect themselves. If we do enter a war, children must be the primary concern.

"And with that, I will send all of you on your way," Dumbledore said rather cheerfully considering what he'd just told them. "I will contact you in the usual way if I come across any additional information."

* * *

Two months following the Order meeting, the Marauders, Emmeline, and Dorcas sat around a table in the Leaky Cauldron, having a nice night out. James had taken Harry to the Burrow – after what happened to him with Malfoy, he'd never let Harry walk alone to the Weasley home. 

Somehow, their discussion about Quidditch had turned to a discussion about Malfoy. This led them to Voldemort and Wormtail.

"For all we know, Wormtail may have already found Voldemort and is attempting to bring him back," Remus said darkly, sipping his Butterbeer. "There's been no sign of him, even after Mad-Eye did that press conference and told the papers that Wormtail is still alive, and everyone should be on the lookout for him. He told them he was an Animagus…"

"Yeah, but how's anyone going to pick him out from the billions of rats in England," Sirius argued. "Apparently, Wormtail is a hell of a lot smarter than we ever knew; he lied to us and none of us realized it. He wasn't exactly the world's best liar in school; that's why we told him to shut his mouth if we got caught by professors."

James stared at the table pensively. "He's coming back," he said, not realizing he'd spoken aloud until his friends looked at him inquiringly. He looked at them. "Voldemort. He's coming back… Dumbledore keeps saying it, and since when has Dumbledore been wrong about anything."

"But how does Dumbledore know?" Dorcas asked. "He could be wrong." She looked very hopeful that the headmaster was wrong.

"He knows because of the Prophecy," Sirius said, his eyes widening. He looked at James apologetically.

Remus furrowed his brow, while the witches raised an eyebrow. "What Prophecy?" Remus asked slowly, looking between Sirius and James.

James leaned back in his chair, sighed heavily, and glared at Sirius. "Look, all I can say right now is that…" He tried to turn his thoughts into words. "I don't want to say much in here; anyone could overhear me–"

Before he could go on, a pearly-white phoenix flew into the pub, unseen by the other patrons enjoying meals, and flew to James. He listened for a few minutes before his face paled and his jaw clenched in anger.

"What did it say?" Sirius asked, unsure if he really wanted to know.

"It seems there's been a breakout from Azkaban," James said evenly.

Dorcas and Emmeline gasped, Sirius' jaw dropped, and Remus' eyebrows shot up. "Who was it?" Emmeline asked quietly, seemingly noting the very angry look on James' face.

"Lucius Malfoy," James replied.

* * *

Less than ten minutes after receiving Dumbledore's Patronus, Sirius and James took the Ministry lifts to the second level and stepped out, heading towards Auror headquarters. 

"They can't know that we know," James told his best friend quietly. "Mad-Eye will probably know, but if the others ask us what we're doing, we're picking up some paperwork."

Sirius nodded and pulled open the doors to headquarters, allowing James to enter first. Neither of them had ever seen the scene before them. About two dozen Aurors were there, looking prepared for battle, judging by the looks on their faces. A few looked at the new arrivals oddly before whispering to other Aurors. Sirius and James exchanged their own looks before heading to James' cubicle which was just beside Kingsley Shacklebolt's.

"What's going on, Kings?" Sirius asked, pretending to look confused at all the Aurors that were here so late in the evening.

Kingsley looked at them for a moment, but before he could open his mouth, another voice called out, "Potter! Black! My office!" It was Mad-Eye.

"What'd you two do now?" Kingsley said, grinning in relief, James thought.

"You don't want to know," Sirius said with a wink as he followed his best friend to their boss' office.

"Inside. Close the door and sit," Mad-Eye said, looking over a long piece of parchment. The two younger wizards did as they were told. "You got Dumbledore's Patronus, then?"

"Yes, sir," they both said.

Mad-Eye put down the parchment and studied the two wizards, considering them for a few long moments. Finally, he said, "I want you both to go home."

Their eyebrows shot up. "What?" James said. "Why? We came to help, and that's what we should be doing! Isn't this why we became Aurors?"

"Potter, you're too close to this," Mad-Eye said gruffly. "I don't really want to explain to the new Minister why one of my Aurors killed a prisoner. And I further don't want to have to try and keep you out of Azkaban for killing a prisoner. Just stay out of it, both of you."

"That seems to be your motto, doesn't it, Moody?" James asked bitterly. "You told me to stay out of it when my son was missing, now you're telling me to stay out if it while the bastard who took him is on the loose."

"Sure, it's my motto, if you want it to be, Potter," Mad-Eye said as lightly as he could manage. "Speaking of your kid, I suggest you keep a close eye on him until Malfoy is caught again."

* * *

Sirius and James returned angrily to the Potter home half an hour later to find their friends sitting in the kitchen. They turned when they heard the Aurors enter. 

"We weren't expecting you two so soon," Remus said with his trademark raised eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Mad-Eye decided it was best that we weren't involved in the search for Malfoy," Sirius said, glancing at James' face. "James isn't happy."

"Damn right James isn't happy," James said loudly. "Why would I be happy that Malfoy's out of prison and I'm not allowed to do my job?"

The two Aurors sat at the table silently.

Remus summoned two Butterbeers for them. "We brought Harry home," he said quietly. "We figured it's best for the time being. He's asleep upstairs."

James nodded. "Thank you." He thought for long minutes. When he spoke next, it was slowly and deliberately. "You three wanted to know about this Prophecy that Sirius let slip at the Leaky Cauldron." The three who didn't know of the Prophecy sat up straighter in their chairs. Sirius watched his best friend carefully. James swallowed. "Before Harry was born, there was a Prophecy made about him and Voldemort. I've been convinced for years that this Prophecy was why Voldemort attacked Harry and killed Lily."

"What did it say?" Remus asked quietly and carefully.

Sighing, James remembered the night he and Lily were told of the Prophecy by Dumbledore. It was a rather stressful night, to say the very least. He remembered the exact words; how could he have ever forgotten them? It took him a few minutes to speak. His friends waited patiently. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… And…" James stopped for a moment, suddenly choking up. Sirius put an arm around his shoulder. He got himself composed. "And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives."

Heavy silence filled the kitchen following what James had said. It was the same silence that filled Dumbledore's office on the night James and Lily had heard the Prophecy. The Potters had stared at Dumbledore just as James' friends were staring at him now: in complete disbelief.

Remus cleared his throat. "Does that mean what I think it means?" he asked very quietly. "That Harry has to kill Voldemort?"

James nodded, meeting his eyes. "When Lily and I first found out about this, after Harry was born, there was another boy it could have been. Voldemort had two choices in who could possibly end up killing him."

"Who was the other boy?" Emmeline asked, her brow furrowing.

"Neville Longbottom," Dorcas said quietly, looking at James like she'd never seen him before in her life. She'd always been rather close with the Longbottoms, particularly Alice. "Right?"

Again, James nodded. "Right. But on the night Voldemort came to our house, he'd already made his decision. He had a choice between a pureblooded boy and a half-blood boy. Apparently, Voldemort is half-blood–" Eyebrows rose at this proclamation, but no one spoke. "–so he chose the boy who was most like him, the one he thought was most likely to be a threat. He decided to kill Harry when he was a baby, that way, he believed, he had a clear shot at taking total power."

"Wait," Remus said suddenly. "How did Voldemort find out?"

Sirius answered, "Because when Dumbledore heard the Prophecy, someone was listening outside the door. There was some sort of commotion, and Dumbledore opened it to find the Hog Head's owner trying to get rid of the person. It was a Death Eater. The person only heard the first half of the Prophecy, and he ran back to Voldemort and told him what he'd heard."

Emmeline's eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "Oh my God…" she gasped, putting hand to her mouth. Everyone looked at her questioningly. "I think I know who overheard it…"

It was James' turn to sit up straighter in his chair. "Who?" he asked quickly.

The witch looked a bit nervous. "Well, I shouldn't know at all… But _I_ overheard a conversation… I think it was Severus."

James' jaw clenched angrily. "Snape?" he said dangerously. "Snape was the reason Lily was killed and Harry will grow up and have to kill Voldemort?"

Emmeline gulped at the look on James' face. "Well, I can't really be certain about that… I may have heard wrong…"

"What did you hear?" Remus asked, taking her hand.

Emmeline took a deep breath, looking down at her hand intertwined with Remus'. "Well, it was a few weeks after I'd gotten together with Severus," Sirius growled deeply in his throat; Dorcas elbowed him, "and I was at his house having dinner. Someone had Flooed him, and he left the table to check who it was. He was arguing with someone. All I really heard was that he couldn't have heard the entire thing, because the senile, goat-loving coot interrupted him. He came back to the kitchen a few minutes later, and I pretended I hadn't heard anything. I honestly had no idea what it meant at the time, James, I swear."

James nodded. "I don't blame you at all," he said sincerely.

"Who made the Prophecy?" Dorcas asked James curiously.

He shrugged. "Some applicant Dumbledore was interviewing for the Divination post. Sibyll Trelawney."

"I've met her," Sirius said. "I'd gone to Hogwarts for some reason a few years ago, and she stopped me in the corridor and told me to beware of the black veil."

This broke the tension in the kitchen. Everyone stared at Sirius for long moments before they burst out laughing. Just as their laughter was tapering off to sniggers and chuckles, Harry entered the room. "Dad?" he said, going straight to his father and climbing into his laugh.

"Hey, kiddo, what're you doing up?" James asked.

Harry shrugged. "Couldn't sleep," he said. "You didn't tuck me in and read me a story."

Remus smiled. "We should go," he said. "See you tomorrow, James?"

James nodded. "I'll drop Harry off before I head to work." His friends said various goodbyes and headed to the fireplace to use the Floo. James stood and took Harry upstairs. "Did you have fun at the Burrow?"

"Yeah," Harry said, his head resting on his dad's shoulder. "Me and Ron helped Fred and George play a prank on Percy. It was funny."

"Ron and I," James corrected him automatically. "What kind of prank?"

"Well, Ron and I put wet-start fireworks under his bed and put a little bit of water next to them, and Fred and George kept him downstairs while we did it. Then when Percy went back to his room, they exploded and scared him."

James laughed loudly. "We did that in school to someone once," he said thoughtfully, trying not to realize the person he and his friends pranked turned out to be the one responsible for sending Voldemort to their house. He did very well, he thought. "Bet Mrs. Weasley wasn't happy."

"No," Harry said as his father put him in bed. "She yelled at Fred and George for a long time, because the fireworks set Percy's bed on fire."

"Did Fred and George tell on you?" James asked.

"No, but they didn't talk to us for the rest of the night." Harry shrugged. "It's okay, though. Ron said they're going to try to get payback, but I know we can take them."

James laughed again. "Well, if you need any help, let Sirius and me know."

Harry grinned. "Fred and George won't know what hit them if the Marauders get them."

James winked, matching his son's grin. "We'll get them good for you. Now, which story are we reading tonight?"

* * *

Three days after Malfoy's mysterious escape from Azkaban, there was still absolutely no sign of him. Newly appointed Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge decided the Aurors weren't enough during the search; he consented to sending Dementors to assist. No one in the Auror squads was pleased with this sudden, rash decision. Most of them had been to Azkaban at one point or another, and none of them were very keen on the dark creatures. 

"They send shivers straight down my spine," Kingsley Shacklebolt said to James and Sirius during lunch one day. "There aren't many things that scare me, but they're near the top of the list."

Sirius nodded in agreement. "When I was taking Malfoy to Azkaban, they came into the room just as I was throwing him into a cell. I think they thought I was a prisoner. Needless to say, I got straight out of there quicker than I've ever gotten out of anywhere. And it took hours for those feelings to go away, the feelings of doom, like nothing will ever be right with the world again."

"When I first came to the Ministry, during my training," James said quietly, "I had to go out there to help question a supposed Death Eater. Dementors were all over the place – this was before Bagnold put wizard guards there as well as the Dementors and ordered for the Dementors to stay on the far side of the prison that the guards were… It took about two pounds of chocolate for me to be happy again. I wasn't even happy when I went home to Lily…"

"I heard they're stationing Dementors around Hogwarts," Ralph Proudfoot said.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

Proudfoot shrugged. "Dunno," he replied taking a bite of his lunch. "All I know is Dumbledore isn't very pleased about it."

"Why would he be?" James asked. "Hundreds of kids are in that school, now they're putting the most evil creatures in existence near them. Wonder what the parents think of that."

"Well, how would you feel if Harry was a student there right now?" Kingsley asked.

"I don't know," James replied, his brow furrowing. "I mean, on one side, Malfoy may be after Harry again. If the Dementors keep him from getting my son…" He shrugged. "I can't say I'd be all that upset by it. But on the other hand, if Harry turns out to be anything like my friends and me," he inclined his head at Sirius. Sirius snorted, "he's bound to try and sneak out of school at some point, Dementors or not. And Dementors aren't exactly known to be kind – they're not going to look at Harry and go 'Well, this is just a kid, not the bloke we're looking for. Let's let him go.' They'd probably catch him and Kiss him on the spot."

"Once again, you four have proved that Aurors can never talk of anything pleasant," said a voice behind James. He turned to find Remus and Emmeline with their own lunches. "Mind if we sit?"

"Of course not, dear Moonykins," Sirius said, grinning. "What're you doing here?"

Remus sat with a raised eyebrow at his best friend. "If you ever call me that again, dear Padfoot, you will regret it," he said conversationally. "And I came to have lunch with Emmeline. What were you talking about?" he asked the others.

"Dementors at Hogwarts," Kingsley said.

The werewolf nodded thoughtfully. "I heard rumors about that," he said mysteriously, causing his friends and girlfriend to raise their own eyebrows. "Apparently, Fudge is getting a bit too paranoid. He thinks Malfoy might try to attack students."

"First of all," Sirius said thickly through his turkey sandwich, "how do you know about the Dementors? Second of all, how do you know Fudge is paranoid?"

"Because he spoke with Dumbledore this morning," Emmeline said, smirking at her boyfriend's look.

"You took all the fun out of it, Emmeline," Remus said, shaking his head in mock-disappointment. "But yes, I spoke with Dumbledore this morning; he came into the shop to purchase some Muggle magazines on knitting patterns." Sirius choked on his Butterbeer in laughter. James thumped his back a little harder than necessary "He told me Fudge has contacted him numerous times about the Dementors over the last few days. Dumbledore agreed on two Dementors – Fudge wanted at least a dozen – because he doesn't believe Malfoy is a threat to any student at Hogwarts."

"No," James said, "he's just a threat to my son."

Remus nodded. "Dumbledore seemed a bit worried about Harry, but you know Dumbledore; he doesn't let his worry show on the outside. He thinks Fudge is only worried about making certain Malfoy is caught; he doesn't want his job to be in danger so soon after becoming Minister."

"Never liked Fudge, myself," Kingsley said. "Always thought he was a bit too preoccupied with gaining power. Not that he's much different than any other Minister we've had over the ten years."

"And even when Voldemort was on the loose and at the height of his power, when we were in school, there were never any Dementors around the school," Sirius pointed out. "No one seemed to think we were in any danger while Dumbledore was around."

"We weren't," James said. "Voldemort wasn't going to attack Hogwarts with Dumbledore as headmaster; everyone knows Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort was every afraid of."

"Well, yeah, but still," Sirius said. "Why weren't we good enough?"

James raised an eyebrow. "Would you really have wanted to sneak into Hogsmeade with Dementors floating around every corner?" he asked dully.

Sirius' only response was a shiver.

* * *

A month after that conversation, the Dementors were still continuing their search for Malfoy. James had begun to form other worries about this: The Dementors had sided with Voldemort during the first war; what's to say the Dementors wouldn't take one look at Malfoy, realize he was one of Voldemort's top Death Eaters, and let him go on his way? But as James and Sirius weren't allowed on the case, they couldn't do anything about the search for him. 

_Unless it was an unauthorized search_, James thought, packing Harry's overnight bag. Tonight was the full moon, and Harry would once again spend the night at the Weasleys'. _But I promised Sirius and Remus I wouldn't obsess over Malfoy. It would only take away from time with Harry…_

"Alright, buddy, you ready to go?" James asked his son.

Harry grinned, shouldering his broomstick, which was longer than his entire body. "Yeah," he said happily.

"Let's go, then." James led Harry down the stairs and out the backdoor to the path that led to the Burrow.

"Can you change into Prongs and let me ride on your back?" Harry asked. "We'll get there quicker…"

James raised an eyebrow and snorted. "I suppose," he said. He transformed into his Animagus form, and kneeled on his skinny legs so Harry could climb on. Once his son was holding on securely, James took off at a trot, then a run, with Harry, laughing happily, holding on around his neck.

As they reached the Burrow, James caught an odd scent. He stopped running and sniffed the air, then huffed, throwing his head back slightly to signal that Harry needed to hop off. James transformed again and looked around carefully.

"Dad?" Harry said curiously, hoisting his backpack further up on the shoulder that the broomstick wasn't resting on. "What's wrong?"

"Harry," James said seriously. "Stay close to me. If I tell you to hide, do it. Understand?"

Harry nodded a little fearfully, but took his father's hand as they slowly approached the Burrow. James kept his wand out. They headed for the kitchen windows and ducked under. James very cautiously peaked over the window ledge, saw what he needed to see, and ducked back down, cursing. He'd just seen Molly Weasley being held by her neck by Peter Pettigrew. Dear Peter had his wand pointed at the other Weasley children as they watched helplessly.

James sent a Patronus to find either Sirius or Remus, whoever was closest, for help. "Harry, stay very close behind me, okay, no matter what you see."

Harry gulped and nodded.

James nodded back. "All right, come on. Slowly."

The Potters entered through the backdoor as silently as they could manage. It worked to the point that neither the Weasleys nor Wormtail realized they were there until they entered the living room. James put his wand in his robes.

"Hello, Peter," James said as calmly as possible. "How are you?"

Wormtail's eyes had widened and he nearly dropped his wand, but somehow kept it steady. "J-J-James…" he said. "I… wasn't expecting you…"

"No more than I was expecting you, I suppose," James replied. "Why are you here, Peter?"

"Er… Well, I was…"

"He wants Harry!" Ron shouted. Wormtail pointed his wand at the boy and seemed to begin speaking a spell.

"Don't do it, Pete," James said sternly.

"Always telling me what to do, aren't you, James?" Wormtail said, looking at his former friend. "You and Sirius and Remus… Well, I'm not as weak as you think, James."

James nodded calmly, putting a hand down to keep Harry behind him. "I know that, Peter," he said calmly. He was trying to stall until one of his friends arrived. "I've known that for a long time. But please, don't hurt anyone. If you want to hurt someone, hurt me." He felt Harry stiffen behind him.

"I-I just want the boy…" Wormtail said quietly.

James shook his head. "I can't let you have him, Pete," he said. "You of all people know he's all I have left."

Wormtail gulped. "H-he made me do it, James," he said in a tone James believed to be regret. "He wanted me to spy on you… Then he told me to make Sirius switch from him to me and he would give me everything I ever wanted."

"I know, Peter," James said, trying to keep everything calm, and to keep Wormtail's mind on him rather than the Weasleys. Wormtail was loosening his grip around Molly's neck just slightly.

"I never wanted this…" Peter said. "I-I wish I never became a Death Eater… I was afraid."

"I know, Pete," James said again. "We were all afraid…" He glanced quickly around Wormtail's left arm at the window and felt relief. Remus was staring through the window with his jaw dropped in disbelief. James had sent instructions in the Patronus that told Remus how to handle the situation. "Pete, please just let her go," he said, nodding at Molly. "She's done nothing, nor have the children." Remus was slowly approaching the door. "Please, let them go…" Remus was putting a silencing charm on the door to make sure it wouldn't creak. "Lower your wand, and we can discuss this calmly without anyone being hurt." Remus was pushing open the door. "I know you're not a killer, Pete…"

Remus moved right behind Wormtail, pointed his wand at the other wizard, and said, "_STUPEFY!_"

Wormtail's eyes widened a touch, he dropped his wand, released his hold on Molly, and fell to the ground, unconscious.

"Nice one, Moony," James said, smiling.

Remus grinned. "All right, Prongs?"

"All right. You?"

Molly stood up, rubbing her neck. "Who _was_ that?" she asked James sharply.

James sighed. "Well, that's a bit of a long story, Molly. Perhaps Remus and I can explain it a bit later. At the moment, we need to take Peter here to Azkaban. But I will tell you that this is Peter Pettigrew…"

It was Molly's turn for eye widening.

"Molly, would you mind watching Harry?" James asked the witch.

"No, not at all?" Molly said faintly, staring at the unconscious man behind her.

James turned to his son, who was holding onto his leg tightly. "Harry, I'll be back soon, all right? I need you to stay with Mrs. Weasley and the kids for a bit though…"

Tentatively, Harry nodded. "Kay," he said in a small voice, also looking at Wormtail.

"Shall we, Mister Moony?" James said lightly.

"But of course, Mister Prongs," Remus said with an incline of his head.

James floated Wormtail's body a few feet into the air, grabbed his arm, and Disapparated to the seacoast nearest to Azkaban. Remus was only seconds behind him. Just as James used a complicated spell only known by Aurors and top Ministry officials, Sirius appeared beside Remus.

"What in the bloody hell is going on?" he asked. "Molly Weasley said something about Peter and you two going to Azkaban…" Sirius trailed off as he saw the body floating beside James. "No way…" he whispered. "What happened?"

"We'll explain later," James said. "You can help us talk to Molly about what just happened. Right now, I want Wormtail in a cell…"

* * *

**AN:** Okay, I lied. So sue me. (You'll only get a few pennies and maybe half a Slim Jim if you do, though.) But this really be the last chapter before _Deathly Hallows_ comes out. So we've got Wormtail. Will we get Malfoy? Hmmmm... By the way, I'm pretty sure all of you get cookies for the little "guess the line" game last chapter. Once more, enjoy the book! I promise I will not write any spoilers into what little is left of this story. Take care! 


	18. Reunited

_**Unforeseen**_

By Neurotica

_Eighteen_

Three wizards appeared at a seacoast, watching the high sea waves crashing into the rock. They looked at each other only briefly before one of them muttered a spell, and a small wooden boat appeared a few feet beneath them. Carefully, each wizard lowered himself into the boat. With a tap of a wand, it took off across the sea – somehow, the high seas didn't overtake them. By the time they reached the other side, all three were drenched in rain, but it didn't matter to them; they silently climbed up the slippery rock and turned to stare at their destination.

James and Sirius had been here numerous times; Remus, only once. They all despised the place, but they had to do this, if only for their own, selfish reasons.

Gulping, Sirius turned to his friends. "Well, shall we?" he said hoarsely.

James and Remus nodded, and Sirius led the way to the front doors of Azkaban. The wizard guard stationed outside checked their identification, and hesitated briefly when he realized there was a werewolf in the group. "Let us in, Gibbons," James said impatiently, yanking Remus' Ministry identification card from the other wizard. "We've already been cleared by Mad-Eye."

Gibbons nodded, glaring at James, and opened the doors for the three wizards. "He's already in interrogation room three. If you have any problems, Larson will be there."

"We're not expecting any problems," Sirius said flatly.

The three friends entered the prison, simultaneously shivering at the intense cold that only Azkaban held. James shook his head hard, feeling horrible thoughts trying to surface. "Anyone have chocolate?" he asked hoarsely.

Remus handed him and Sirius a Chocolate Frog, then had one himself. "I've got more if you need it."

"Cheers," James muttered, his hands shaking as he unwrapped the chocolate. He only glanced at the card. Merlin again. Maybe Harry needed it…

"This one," Sirius said in almost no time, pointing at a door with a large number three on it. He turned to James. "You sure you want to do this?"

James nodded. "Yes," he said looking directly into his best friend's eyes.

Sirius looked at him for nearly a minute before finally nodding. "All right, Moony?" he asked.

Remus nodded. "I'm fine," he said shortly.

Sirius sighed, then turned, tapped his wand on the doorknob, and opening the door. The room was heated – magically probably – and the warmth was quite welcome to the three wizards. They moved inside quickly, nodded at the wizard who must have been Larson, and closed the door behind the guard as he left. At first, they avoided looking at the other wizard in the room. They all had things that needed to be said, but none of them were quite ready. They stood in a corner of the room, knowing the other wizard was watching them very closely, probably very nervously, and held off the moment of confrontation for as long as possible.

The other wizard in the room with them had hurt them all – James most of all – and they needed answers. Finally James turned away from his only remaining best friends, and faced the man he believed had had a part in Lily's death.

"Hello, Wormtail," he said coolly. James sat in a chair across from his former friend while Sirius and Remus sat on either side of him. It was the first time in years the Marauders had been in a room together.

_Wish it was on better terms,_ James thought sadly.

"Y-you've come to kill me, haven't you?" Wormtail asked quietly, glancing at each of the wizards.

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Tempting as that is," he said lightly. "Sadly we have not; we're just here to talk to you."

"About what?" Wormtail asked nervously.

Remus glanced briefly at James before speaking. "We want to know what happened the night Lily died. We want to know why you felt the need to hide for five years. We want to know why you betrayed us and joined Voldemort."

Wormtail jumped at the sound of the name.

"Did you tell Voldemort where we were living?" James asked quietly. "Did you lead him there?"

Wormtail gulped. "H-he forced me…"

"Get off it, Wormtail!" Sirius said angrily. "We know you went to him willingly. He didn't force you to do anything. You knew what you were doing the entire time."

"Why did you join him?" James asked, putting a hand on Sirius' shoulder to calm him. "We were your friends. We would have protected you, just as we did at Hogwarts. We had Dumbledore on our side. Did you really think the Order wouldn't have done everything in its power to hide you if you were truly that afraid?"

"H-he was taking over," Wormtail said after a few minutes, staring at the table. "Marlene McKinnon… She wasn't supposed to die. We were going together, you see… I was supposed to protect her, but I couldn't. The Death Eaters came in. They stunned me and went to her. By the time I'd come around, she was dead and the Dark Mark was over the house."

The other three wizards had raised their eyebrows to their highest points.

"You and Marlene?" Sirius asked. "Why didn't you tell us?"

Wormtail looked up, his face troubled. "Because I didn't want you to laugh at me," he said in strong voice he rarely used. "I didn't want to hear you say 'why's Marlene with him?' And I knew you would."

"Peter," Remus said quietly. "We wouldn't have laughed at you. You never laughed at us about who we dated."

Sirius gave a half-grin. "That's not quite true, Moony," he said slyly. "Remember Rebecca Pelonis?"

James snorted and even Peter smiled a little.

Remus' lips were twitching and a blush was creeping up his neck. "Back off, Padfoot."

Sirius chuckled quietly before looking back at Wormtail. "See, it's all in good fun. Hell, we laughed about James getting together with Lily – you laughed too, as I remember."

Wormtail shook his head, looking quite miserable. "You don't understand. I tried to save her, I tried to defend her, but I couldn't."

James nodded. "I know that feeling," he said quietly. "I wanted to defend Lily. I would have given my life for her, but I lost her anyway."

Wormtail remained quite for a few minutes, thinking. "He came to me," he began very quietly. "I think Sirius was on a mission for the Order at the time, and Remus was recovering from a full moon. I'd just left your house, James; Lily made dinner that night, and we sat around, just talking. I'd come home, and he was there. When I walked in the door, I could feel something was wrong. All the lights were out, and it was very cold. Every hair on my neck stood straight up. I tried to send you a message, but he took my wand. He came out of the shadows and I'd never been more afraid in my life. I thought he was going to kill me. He told me to sit, and he conjured some wine…" Wormtail shook his head miserably. "I didn't know what I was doing. He started talking about how the Order was going to lose the war, and soon he would take over. He told me that if I gave him information, I would live and be rewarded. I was still depressed about Marlene; I wasn't in my right mind. I don't remember much, but he began asking me questions. They didn't seem all that important – I'd thought he wanted to know who was in the Order. But he asked about you, James, and Lily and Harry." James' jaw clenched. "He wanted to know what day Harry was born. He wanted to know where you were living. That's all I remember. He could have asked more questions, but with every question, the wine he gave me became stronger and stronger…

"When I woke the next morning, I'd thought it was all a bad nightmare, but then I looked at my arm – it was burning – and I realized he'd put the Dark Mark on it." Wormtail sniffed. "I wanted to go to Dumbledore, but I heard a voice telling me that if I did, all my friends would die. I didn't know what to do, so I just hid it from all of you. I thought that if I gave him the information he wanted, he would leave you alone." He looked at James. "The night he went to your house, he summoned me. He wanted me to go along and watch. I didn't know where we were going until we were in Godric's Hollow. He told me to wait outside. I heard Lily scream, then she was quiet, and I knew he killed her. Next thing I knew, the house was destroyed. I'd heard him scream – whatever happened to him had to be painful." Wormtail sounded as though he was quite pleased that Voldemort had suffered. James was. "I saw Harry, and he saw me. And he grinned and called my name. I couldn't stand it. I knew that if any of you found out I was there, you'd kill me yourselves. So I cut off my finger with my wand," he showed them the hand with only four fingers, "and took off. I'd hoped you'd all think I tried to save Lily…" Wormtail sighed. "She really didn't have a chance, James. I don't even think she could get to her wand. Even if she had…"

James nodded. "I know," he muttered, trying to fight back tears.

Nobody seemed to know what to say.

"I swear, I didn't want to join him," Wormtail said, trying to convince them as well as himself. "But I didn't see any choice…"

"Peter, you had a choice," Remus said. "Dumbledore would have made sure you were safe, even after what happened in Godric's Hollow. You were our friend; we would have done whatever it took to protect you."

"Pete," Sirius said, glancing at James. "I know we gave you a hard time in school, and even after school, but you were still our brother. You had to have known that. We became Animagi together. Remember all those full moon nights we had together?"

Peter nodded, smiling a little. "They're some of my best memories." He sighed, looking around the room miserably. "But in here, I've lost all of that. At first, I remembered everything, but now…" He looked at James again. "I'm sorry for everything I've done to all of you, but mostly to you, James." James looked up, surprised. "I know you love Lily, and I was responsible for her death–"

"Did you raise a wand to her? Did you use the Killing Curse on her?" James asked sharply. "No, you didn't. You're not responsible for her death. And you weren't responsible for Marlene's death." He shook his head. "Look, Wormtail, I told you at the Burrow that I know you're not a killer, and I meant that. You made mistakes; we all have at one point or another. And I'm sorry you felt the need to hide from us."

Sirius hesitated. "Perhaps when you get out of here," he said slowly, as though he was surprised at the words he was speaking, "we could all get together." James and Remus looked shocked. "Maybe over time we can start to trust you again…"

"Are you feeling all right?" Remus asked, staring at Sirius with raised eyebrows.

Sirius shrugged. "Probably not," he said lightly.

Before anyone could say another word, the door to the room opened and Larson entered. "Time's up. Pettigrew has to go back to his cell."

James nodded. "All right. Just another minute?" he asked.

Larson hesitated. "Sure, make it quick, though. The Dementors are moving this way."

"We will…" James stood and crossed the room to where Wormtail sat. He stuck out a hand. Wormtail stared at the hand for long moments. He seemed to think the hand was going to do something horrific to him. Finally, Wormtail shook James' hand. "Thank you for telling us all this," James said quietly, sincerely. "It explains a lot…"

Wormtail only nodded as he let go of James' hand. Sirius and Remus also shook Wormtail's hand before leaving the prison.

"Did we just forgive him?" Sirius asked, stuffing a Chocolate Frog into his mouth.

James shrugged. "I'm not sure," he said, taking the Frog Remus handed him. "You're the one who invited him to see us when he gets out of here."

"Yeah, well," Sirius said gruffly. "After what he told us… Bloody idiot. Why didn't he tell us?"

"He told us why he didn't tell us," Remus replied patiently, lowering himself back into the boat. "He was afraid. From what he said, I think he was in love with Marlene, and after he couldn't save her, his defenses were low, and Voldemort took advantage of that."

Sirius snorted, tapping the edge of the boat with his wand so that it took them far from Azkaban. "Still can't believe that… Wormtail and Marlene."

"Makes sense, actually," James said thoughtfully. "Even though they tried to hide it, I remember little smiles and looks between them that I dismissed at the time. Even Lily said it seemed like they really fancied each other."

"What'd you think of the other stuff he said?" Sirius asked as they reached the other side of the coast.

"You mean about Voldemort?" Remus asked. Sirius nodded. "Makes sense, I suppose. Peter always was quite suggestible under the influence of alcohol."

"He could've been lying, though," Sirius argued.

But James shook his head. "I don't think he was," he said quietly. "Peter may have lied to us about Voldemort, but I always knew, in the very back of my mind, that something wasn't right about him."

"I'd noticed that as well," Remus said. They were all on the shore now, staring back at Azkaban. "But there was just so much going on at the time…"

Sirius sighed. "Well, he's there for the next five years, so we've got time to think about it. What say we head to the Leaky Cauldron and have a few drinks?"

The others agreed and seconds later, they Disapparated.

* * *

**Five years later…**

James stood beside the Hogwarts Express with his son, not certain if he really wanted to let him board the train.

_I could just take him home now,_ James thought. _Teach him myself…_

But he knew he'd have to let Harry leave. He couldn't deny his son the chance he and his friends had had all those years ago. And even if he decided to take Harry back through the barrier of Platform 9 ¾, Sirius and Remus would never allow it, and they'd be backed by Emmeline and Dorcas. Harry would put up a decent fight as well.

James' chances of keeping his boy close to him were lessening by the minute as Frank and Alice Longbottom came through the barrier with Neville, followed by Molly Weasley with most of her children.

_Damn…_ _Guess I have to let him go…_

"All right, Harry," he said. "Do you have everything?"

Harry smiled and rolled his eyes. "For the millionth time… Yes, Dad."

"I'm just making sure," James said with a grin. He checked his watch. Ten minute before the train left. "Okay, you should probably get on the train and find a seat with Ron and Neville. You ready to go?"

"I've been ready to go for eleven years," Harry said with his own grin.

James nodded. "Okay, well, give me a hug, then…"

Harry obliged, and James hugged him tightly, knowing he'd see Harry in a few months for Christmas holidays, but that time seemed years away to him at the moment. Now he knew how his parents felt when they insisted on many hugs before he boarded the train. James dropped a kiss on Harry's head and mostly released him, still holding his shoulders, as he kneeled down to Harry's level.

"Your mother would be very proud of you today, Harry," he said quietly. "You know that, right?"

Harry smiled. "Of course I do," he said. "I'll be fine, Dad. You'll write, won't you?"

"Absolutely," James said, standing. "Every day."

"Well, you don't have to write _every_ day," Harry said. "Every other day would be all right."

James laughed. "Every other day it is, then. Now, you've hugged Sirius and Remus and Emmeline and Dorcas, haven't you?"

"Four times," Harry said, glancing over at his godfather and extended family talking with the Longbottoms.

"Harry, come on!" Ron called, wiping his cheek where his mother's lipstick had remained.

"All right, off you go. Be good!"

"Oy! Don't tell him that!" Sirius yelled. "You know he won't be good! He's _your_ son after all!"

Several families laughed.

James grinned and shook his head. "Well, if you must misbehave, don't tell me about it. I'm sure I'll get an owl from McGonagall…"

Harry grinned. "Bye, Dad! Bye, Sirius and Remus!" he added to the two wizards. Emmeline and Dorcas were busy with their own children.

Sirius and Remus caught up with James and waved at Harry, Ron, and Neville as they found a compartment and stuck their heads out the window to wave at their families. A few compartments down, Fred and George were waving at Ginny, who was crying.

"We'll send you Hogwarts toilet seat, Ginny!"

"George Weasley!" Molly yelled over the laughs of Sirius, Remus, James, Frank, and many others on the platform.

The train was leaving and James was trying his best to resist the urge to pull his son out of the window from which he was waving and laughing. As the train turned a corner and disappeared, a hand touched James' shoulder.

"Come on, mate," Sirius said quietly and understandingly. "You'll see him soon. We've got to get going…"

James nodded, suddenly remembering what they were about to do. His stomach seemed to twist into knots while his friends said goodbye to the Longbottoms and Weasleys.

"James?" said another quiet voice. He turned to find Dorcas standing beside him. Her children were with their father. James watched for a minute as Sirius tossed his eight-month-old daughter in the air. "I just wanted to let you know that I think you're doing the right thing."

James raised an eyebrow. "Really? I was under the impression that you didn't approve of this."

She hesitated. "Lily was my best friend – the best friend I ever had – and I know that if she was here, she'd be all right with it."

Swallowing a large lump that only ever appeared when someone said his wife's name, James tried to smile. "I think she would be, too," he said very quietly. "Thanks."

Dorcas winked. "I must say, though, that I'm a bit wary of the Marauders being reunited. It could only mean trouble…"

"What, we're not trouble with just the three of us?" James asked, grinning.

"Don't think I said that…" Dorcas replied with her own grin. "Now, you should go… Sirius and Remus are looking a bit impatient."

James turned to look at his friends. They were indeed staring at James with an impatient look that they only wore when they were waiting for a prank to happen. He chuckled. "All right, then. See you back at my place in a few hours?"

She nodded. "Definitely." She and James walked to where Emmeline, Sirius, and Remus stood. "I'll take her…" she said, taking her young daughter from her husband. "Where's Brandon?"

"Hiding behind a pillar," Sirius replied dryly. "I think he's hoping the Hogwarts Express will come back and take him to Hogwarts…"

James laughed. "I'd do it."

"Brandon Taylor Black!" Dorcas called sharply. "Get over here before we leave you behind!"

After a minute or so, a three-year-old boy who looked exactly like Sirius in miniature form appeared from behind a pillar just feet from him. The look on his face said he was quite resentful that his mother had discovered him.

James shook his head, smiling. "All right, we've got to go," he said looking at his watch. "We'll be back at my place as soon as possible."

Dorcas and Emmeline nodded.

Remus kissed the sandy hair of his own young son, then his wife, and turned to his friends. "Ready?" he asked.

"No," Sirius said dryly. "See you there." He disappeared with a _pop_.

"Wasn't this his idea?" Remus asked rhetorically, looking at the spot Sirius had disappeared before he, too, Disapparated.

James shook his head, rolled his eyes, and looked at the witches, who seemed quite amused. "Ladies," he said with a bow before he Apparated to the familiar seacoast.

"Took you long enough," Sirius said with a small grin.

He and Remus were already in the small wooden boat. James lowered himself off the rock and into the boat, and the moment he was mostly settled, Sirius tapped his wand on the boat, and the three wizards sped through the water to the small island that was currently not visible.

James thought back over the last five years and over what he and his friends had done. It was decided unanimously between them that, though Wormtail had been a bit stupid, he wasn't responsible for anything they had believed he was after Lily's death. As a result of this decision, with the approval of Dumbledore and Cornelius Fudge, they'd visited Azkaban every few weeks to meet with Wormtail as an attempt to keep him sane during his remaining time in the prison. Over the years, Sirius, Remus, and James had found they weren't at all bitter towards their old friend. Even Sirius, who'd been the most stubborn about forgiving Wormtail, had begun to look forward to their visits with Wormtail.

Today, Wormtail was being released from Azkaban. For the time being, he would stay with James, since the large home in Ottery St. Catchpole would be rather empty with Harry gone at Hogwarts. The Marauders knew it would be a while before Wormtail was ready to do much of anything, whether it be getting a job or just going out in public, but they promised themselves they would be there for him when and if Wormtail needed them. There would be several meetings between Wormtail and Dumbledore over the next few weeks – Dumbledore only agreed to the Marauders visiting Azkaban under the condition that once Wormtail was released, he was able to speak with the younger wizard. James believed the headmaster wanted to check on Wormtail's true intentions towards his friends and Voldemort.

"Well, here we go," Sirius said, hoisting himself out of the boat and up on the island. He stuck out a hand to help James and Remus up as well. "Ready for this?"

Remus shrugged. "We've been preparing for this for five years," he said flatly.

"Let's get this over with," James said to his friends. "The Dementors aren't going to let him go easily…"

"'Course they're not," Sirius replied. "We've made sure Wormtail kept his happy memories; he's a feast for the Dementors…"

Remus shivered. "Wonderful visual, Padfoot," he said.

Sirius only shrugged as he followed James to the entrance of the prison. "It's true, though," he said quietly. "Wormtail is probably the only prisoner in this place who knows who he is."

Remus didn't reply.

The wizard guard was watching them closely as they approached. "Wands," he grunted, holding out his hand to James.

Inwardly rolling his eyes at Minister Fudge's new law about handing over a wand for identification, James pulled out his trusty wand and passed it over to the other wizard. The wizard tapped his own wand against James', and a hologram appeared from the tip of it.

"James Potter?" the wizard guard asked, looking from the picture on the hologram to James.

James nodded. "That's me," he said. The other wizard made a swishing motion with James' wand and the hologram disappeared. The guard handed the wand back to James. He repeated the wand test with Sirius and Remus. It took a bit longer with Remus', since the little hologram revealed that he was a werewolf. The guard had to double check Remus' credentials – it was something that happened nearly every time the Marauders visited Azkaban. Finally, Remus was approved for entrance into the prison, and the three friends, glaring at the guard, entered, knowing exactly where they were going.

Wormtail was waiting for them just outside the prison office, where he'd been released by Kingsley Shacklebolt, who visited Azkaban specifically for this task. Wormtail tried to smile at them. "The Dementors seemed to know I was leaving today," he said a bit hoarsely as his friends approached. "They spent the night outside my cell."

"Did you transform?" Sirius asked very quietly to keep from being overheard by anyone who may have been heard.

Wormtail nodded. "It helped a lot," he said. "It was a brilliant idea, Sirius."

Sirius winked. "Can we go now?" he asked to the area in general.

"He's cleared to leave," Kingsley said, coming out of the office. "Dumbledore's expecting him at Hogwarts tomorrow afternoon – at his leisure, Dumbledore said."

James snorted. "Which means get there as soon as possible, or pay the consequences."

Kingsley shrugged. "Probably," he said. "Just make sure he gets there," he added to James.

"He'll be there," Remus promised quietly.

"All right," Kingsley said, nodding. "I suggest you get out of here; the Dementors are on the other side of the prison right now, but if they sense we're all here, they'll be here in seconds."

James thanked Kingsley and led the way out of the prison. They stopped halfway to the boat and turned, finding Peter had stopped. The look on his face was unexplainable. James thought it was a combination of relief, joy, and remorse. Sirius, Remus, and James waited patiently for their friend. After a few minutes, James walked back to Peter, put an arm around his shoulder, and gently steered him towards the boat.

"Thanks," Peter said quietly, staring at his feet.

His friends looked at him. "You're welcome," Sirius said just as quietly before he tapped the boat to make it move.

As they sped back towards the mainland, James stared thoughtfully at the water they rushed through. He hadn't forgotten about Lily – not by a long shot – and he still loved her very much. But he finally realized that longing for her constantly wasn't going to bring her back. He'd concentrated harder on his work on the Ministry and even harder on his son. He and Harry had grown very close in the last five years. Their family didn't just include the two of them, though; Sirius' and Remus' families just made life so much better. Life was better than James could have ever imagined after Lily had died – back then, he hadn't thought life would go on at all.

James had his friends, his son, his sisters-in-law, and of course, his niece, nephew, and godson. Now they had Peter back, and life could only get better from there.

End

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**AN:** Yes, that is really the end... Unfortunately, there won't be a sequel to this. I can't seem to get inspired to write one. If something comes to me, and it's decent enough, maybe I'll change my mind. It's been over two years since I started this, and I really appreciate all the patience you lot have had with me during the writing of this story. One last time, please review! 


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